


The Storage Room

by kankyuuhin



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Drama, Friendship, Gen, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Slice of Life, Wicca, i'm leaving the ship tag there, past trauma, platonic jasico
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-24
Updated: 2014-08-24
Packaged: 2018-02-14 14:09:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2194707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kankyuuhin/pseuds/kankyuuhin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It all starts when Jason decides to move across the country for college. He instantly falls in love with New York and everything about it, including his new flat mates: Percy, Leo and his dog, Buford. However there's a another resident in the flat. Mysterious Nico di Angelo who lives in the storage room across the kitchen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is for the PJO Big Bang 2014. 
> 
> ~Please note that this is a platonic Jason/Nico fic and it happened as I was writing it. The actual endgame was proper romantic Jasico, but it felt more right this way. In my mind, in the future and way past chapter 7 their relationship does change into that. As the author that is what I think. After a rather rude comment, I added more tags like 'Nico & Jason' in hope that no one will miss the Gen and friendship tags and feel tricked or the need to assume my sexuality. IDEK. 
> 
> Once again, this is platonic Jasico. It's them becoming friends because reasons. And Jasico.~
> 
> Beta by: geographicghost  
> You can also see the art by st00pz here:  
> http://st00pzdraws.tumblr.com/post/95557709135/another-piece-for-pjo-big-bang-link-to-fic

Jason Grace looked at the torn out piece of newspaper in his hand and double-checked the address. If it was correct, then right across him stood the New York apartment building that, perhaps, he will call home in the future. He crossed the street and rang the doorbell marked with ‘P. Jackson’. Percy, the guy he spoke on the phone about the available room, was enthusiastic and told him that he should come ASAP to check it out before making up his mind. Since Jason had no other plans besides looking for a place to stay, he decided to go. Maybe it was the inviting tone of Percy’s voice, he thought as he walked up the old staircase to the 7th floor. He was about to ring the doorbell when the door swung open and he came face to face with a much shorter and scrawny blond guy who looked like he just ate something very sour. Jason raised an eyebrow confused. Somehow he doubted that this guy was Leo, the other flat mate.

 

“Hello~ are you Jason?” The dark haired guy behind him asked. Jason nodded. “I’m Percy! Come on in!” Percy motioned him to step instead. The blond guy looked annoyed at Percy for a moment.

“Well, goodbye then.” He said and pushed past Jason.

“G’Bye!” Percy echoed and shut the door behind Jason. He turned to him. “Sorry, that guy was kind of creepy…” Percy apologized. “So! Welcome to our little place!”

“Thank you.” Jason said. “It looks more comfy than ‘little’ though.”

“Let me just give you the tour, Mr. Grace.” Percy laughed.

 

Percy, Jason, understood from the very beginning was a very straightforward guy. He either liked someone or didn’t. At the moment and for some bizarre reason he liked Jason. He wasn’t going to complain about it. He followed the older man one further in the house noticing the red bricks and the pictures on the wall. The living room was right in front of the front door with an old, tattered green sofa and an ugly, coffee-stained rug on the floor. Somehow, this made the place seem warm and cozy. Jason couldn’t help but like it. His house back in California was very different. Much whiter and colder, despite the extra sunshine. This place actually felt lived in for several years.

Percy showed him the open kitchen that was only separated by a big table explaining that he barely used the kitchen since his girlfriend; Annabeth or the others were better trained in the culinary arts. In short, he couldn’t cook anything. Next to the kitchen was a small bathroom with an even smaller bathtub. Percy went past his own room and onward to the, currently, vacant room. He explained that until very recently Frank lived there, but he had decided to move in with his girlfriend, Hazel.

 

“As you can see, the room isn’t too big or too small. It just doesn’t have a large window… ah! But you’re free to use whatever you want if you decide to move in.” Percy explained as he walked in. He pushed the window up, half-grimacing at the building a few feet across. “At least, there’s no window right across”.

Jason examined the square bedroom. He expected an empty room, but instead he saw a bed in the corner, a desk and a small closet on the other side. He noticed some old poster markings here and there, but figured that was hardly a deal breaker.

“You’re sure it’s okay to use the furniture?” He asked.

“Yeah, of course! You said you’re a first year, right?”

Jason nodded. “Yeah, I just came here. I was just crashing over at my sister’s place.”

“Then it’s perfect! Right?” Percy said excited. Jason smiled.

He had to admit, the guy had energy. But he didn't disagree. The flat and the room seemed to be great. He didn’t want to follow his sister’s advice of getting a place of his own. It would be too lonely and weird. Besides, he was sure that with flat mates or roommates he would get used to the new environment much quicker.

“Let’s go, you should meet Leo and Buford too.” Percy said after a moment.

 

Jason took one last look at the room picturing how it would be to stay there before turning to follow Percy across the narrow hallway. Percy knocked what seemed like a ‘secret’ knock on the door only to open it anyway. A second later a small brown fur-ball of a dog jumped from behind the big desk in the middle of the room and attacked Jason. That is, attacked by licking him wherever it could reach. Next to him Percy was laughing his head off as Jason fought to catch and hold on to the hyperactive fur-ball. He laughed as well as the dog barked at him and wagged his tail.

 

“I guess Buford likes you then!” Percy said between the laughter.

“Hey, that’s good! He nearly bit the other guy’s nose off.”

Jason turned to the sound of the voice. He watched as a much shorter than him (and Percy) guy emerged from behind the table holding some form of… machinery. He wasn’t sure.

“Hello, I’m Jason.” He said.

“And I’m Valdez,” the guy paused dramatically, “Leo Valdez!” Jason couldn’t help but laugh.

 

“Ah, don’t mind him. Leo’s our resident crazy scientist,” Percy informed him.

“Who’s crazy?!” the other protested. Percy simply pulled his tongue out at him in mock annoyance. Leo did the same.

“We love each other in this house, really.” He explained. “Come on, let’s move on.” Jason put down the dog, which was still trying to lick his cheek and petted him twice before following Percy out of Leo’s room. Or lab. He wasn’t sure.

 

 

They sat down in the tattered green couch with a cup of coffee. Percy went on to explain to him how everything works, rent and bills and cleaning (because Annabeth hates coming over and having to clean after their mess) and so on. Jason couldn’t argue that the place was great and he was lucky that both guys were attending the same university, although they were already in their Junior year. He was glad they didn’t mind he was like a fish out of water. He sighed in his head just thinking of all the things he should learn about the city and university and, simply, living away from home.

 

“So, Percy… you said that there are three living here on the phone, didn’t you? Did you count Buford as well?” he asked after a while. Percy shifted a little in his seat.

“No, that wasn’t it. There’s one more person. He stays over here.” He said and pointed at the door close to the bathroom.

“Didn’t you say that was storage?” Jason asked confused all over again.

“Well, yes, but it’s used as a room at the moment.” He said. “Last year we had some trouble and thought of renting it out since it’s big enough for a bed and some. The window is small and I imagine it’d be too hot in the summer and maybe too cold in the winter, but someone did ask for it.” Percy went on. Jason stared a little at the closed door.

“And this person didn’t want the bigger room now that it’s available?” Jason asked. Percy shook his head.

“Nico, the kid that stays there, is a bit peculiar.” He said he was fine over there and he didn’t need a bigger room or anything.” He shrugged. “Whatever suits everyone, I guess.”

That was the weirdest thing Jason could think. Anyone would go for a more comfortable and furnished room, wouldn't they? He wondered. Even if this guy had very few possessions, living in such a small place must have been frustrating.

“Yeah… is he out?” He asked.

“Hmm, he’s probably there, but we hardly see him, to be honest. It will almost feel as though there’s only three of us living here if that’s something that bothers you.” Percy looked at him hopefully.

“Right.” Jason didn’t expect that.

There was Percy, who was excited and inviting until now, but for this ‘Nico’, Percy seemed to want to stay away from, as if he’s not really there. It was almost… mean. Jason didn’t ask anything more about it. He just hoped the kid in there didn’t hear what Percy said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jason moved into his new room a few days later. Percy and Leo told him that he shouldn’t wait ‘since the room is vacant anyway’ and since he didn’t want to be a burden on Thalia. She had been in New York for several years and she was busy with her work and her own life. In her spare time she behaved more like a babysitter. Jason had refused to give her his new address in fear that she would keep showing up to check on ‘her baby brother’. He definitely didn’t want to be the ‘baby brother’ forever. It was hard for Thalia to accept that, but she agreed on the promise that she would be able to visit him and meet the roommates he was so excited about soon.

The first thing Jason wanted to do when he dragged the last suitcase in the room was to fall flat on the bed and sleep until tomorrow noon. He was almost ready to do so when someone knocked on his half-open door. Jason sighed and turned to see who it was.

“Hello, roommate!” Leo said in a joyful voice. He was holding Buford in his arms. The puppy barked lightly.

“Hey, Leo.” He replied. “What’s up?” Leo smiled widely at him.

“Was that the last one?” He asked nodding at Jason’s suitcase resting at the foot of the bed.

Jason nodded.

“Perfect!” Leo exclaimed. “Then we’re all ready for the party!! Come on!”

Leo disappeared a moment later as Jason stood there, staring. What party? He wondered. They didn’t say anything about a party. He didn’t even know anyone in New York but Percy, Leo and Thalia. He followed Leo to the living room. Percy set a 6-pack of beers on the table and grabbing one for himself. There were several bags of chips and snacks lying around too.

“There he is!!! Our new flat mate!” Percy announced after gulping down what seemed to be half of the can’s contents.

“You guys are crazy.” Jason stated. It didn’t even take long to understand or accept that fact.

“Most definitely!” Leo agreed. “But, don’t worry. You’ll be one of us soon!” His voice was almost menacing. Then the shorter laughed as Jason made a stupid horrified face. He had no doubts that they’ll get along just fine.

It was strange how comfortable he felt around them. It didn’t feel like they knew each other for a couple of days at all. It was as if they were old friends, which was the weirdest thing. He shook his head at how ridiculous that sounded in his head and sat down.

“Hope you like pizza, Jason Grace. Cause we’re having lots of it.” Percy announced.

“Who doesn’t like pizza?” He asked rhetorically.

They sat on the old, tattered couch that bent under their weight. Definitely overused, Jason noted to himself. Of course, that was a good sign. They spend a lot of time together in the living room rather than stuck in their rooms. Percy stood up and held his beer can up.

“To Mr. Jason Grace, welcome to most humble abode,” he said in mock British accent, or at least attempted to.

Leo burst out laughing and cheered loudly as they bumped their cans together. Buford jumped on the couch as well, adding to the cheering by barking until Leo patted his head a couple times.

“Thank you, I’m glad to be amongst you fine, fine gentlemen!” Jason laughed as well not even trying to be an English gentleman. Instead he sipped his drink.

“Just so you know, Annabeth and Frank and some other friends are joining us. Hope that’s OK.” Percy said.

Jason raised an eyebrow. They really did mean a party, he thought amused.

“It’s fine. I don’t know that many people here after all.” He wondered how many people they invited. Leo gave him a much harder pat on the back than he expected making him cough instead of laugh.

“We’ll fix that soon enough!” he said.

 

 

 

Less than an hour later Annabeth arrived. Percy informed her that Jason was also from California, though it turned out that she wasn’t originally from there. Her family did move to San Francisco when she was a teenager though. Jason’s home wasn’t far from there so it was fairly easy to talk with her about various places they both visited. It also didn’t take Jason long to understand that Annabeth probably knew everything about anything. It wasn’t in an annoying know-it-all way, but it made sense that Percy kept calling her his ‘wise girl’. Percy admitted that he was an idiot compared to her. Neither Leo nor Annabeth objected to that.

A little later, the previous occupant of his room, Frank Zhang, a big Asian guy arrived along with his girlfriend, Hazel. At first sight they made an odd couple, Jason thought. As she was small and petite standing next to a big guy like Frank made it seem like she was even smaller and fragile.

Jason watched as Hazel went from one to the other hugging and greeting them, her curly cinnamon colored hair swaying around. Frank, on the other hand, was teased by Leo who kept on asking about his almost ‘married’ life with Hazel. He was already a deep red color. Jason tried to hide his laugh and jumped in to introduce himself and thank him for the furniture he left in the room. Frank gave the excuse that Hazel’s place was more than well equipped and it’d be more troublesome to move all the furniture when they’d end up in storage. Jason agreed that they are put into a much better use than gathering dust. He glanced over at the door across the living room and wondered if Nico, the youngest flat mate was in there and if he was how come didn’t come out? The thought that they may actually be bothering him instead crossed his mind for a moment, until Percy distracted him.

By the time all the food was consumed it was well past midnight. The music that Leo put on was still playing from his laptop and everyone was chatting leisurely and way too stuffed to move from their seats. Buford lay on Hazel’s lap and sleeping quietly; Annabeth was cuddling with Percy on the armchair; Leo was showing off a new invention to Frank who seemed rather drunk and probably didn’t understand anything that the other said. The strange feeling that overtook Jason in that moment was almost like nostalgia. Everyone was relaxed and comfortable and even though the others knew each other for years and he was the ‘new guy’, Jason really felt like he was part of this group.

“Hey, what’s with that face, Jason?” Leo asked and moved to sit next to him. “No long faces!” He patted his back. “Or are you too terrified of your first days in university?”

“Aaaah, I remember when I was a Freshman.” Percy mused.

“Those were good days.” Annabeth agreed.

“Come on, guys, don’t ruin it for him.” Hazel stopped them and gave Jason a smile.

“It’s okay. The truth is… that it is a little scary.” Jason admitted. “I was just thinking that I couldn’t have been luckier.” He paused. “Is it weird that I feel like I’ve already known you guys for ages?” He asked starting to feel very self-conscious. Maybe that was a stupid thing to say.

“We have that effect,” Leo laughed followed by the others.

“They’re a bunch of idiots, Jason, don’t listen to these boys,” Annabeth warned him.

“We’re not idiots!” Percy protested.

“I’m very sure you will drag him into something stupid sooner or later.” Hazel agreed. Frank laughed a little too hard at that.

“Like that time when they tried to sneak into that museum to get you a present and got arrested.” Frank laughed. Percy groaned.

“Oh come on, that was a great idea!” He said.

“It just didn’t work out the way you planned it!” Leo tried to support his friend.

“More like, you shouldn’t be sneaking in but go during open hours!!” Annabeth said shaking her head, but clearly she was amused.

“You have to agree though, it was a unique birthday, right?” Percy cuddled her close.

“Oh yes, definitely. Being called at 2 AM saying my boyfriend and his friend need bail…” Annabeth tried to keep a straight face, but her smile told otherwise.

“Thank goodness I didn’t agree to that!” Frank said.

 

Jason thought that these guys were definitely crazy but he wouldn’t have it any other way. His eyes fell on the storage room door close to the kitchen again. He wondered when he’d get to meet him too. His curiosity grew as he thought about how they were having a welcome party right outside his door. Perhaps he’s not home today? Jason thought. Besides, he didn’t know if the kid worked or not. Percy had only mentioned that he was younger than everyone, maybe seventeen, but wasn’t in university or school. Of course, that made Jason even more curious, but he thought if Percy and Leo said he’s more of a loner, he shouldn’t bother him. He’d get to meet him eventually.

“Earth to Jason,” Leo poked his side.

“Ah, yeah, sorry, I totally spaced out.” He laughed embarrassed.

“It’s alright.” Leo said. “Tired?”

“A little.” Jason replied, but he was more close to exhausted.

“Don’t lie, you probably just want to go to bed, right?” Annabeth said. He smiled at her. Annabeth could catch anything. Or maybe it was just that she was practical and used logic for everything. Jason nodded.

“Then it’s time to call it a night.” Percy said. “It’s already past three.”

 

After Annabeth saw Hazel and Frank off, she dragged Percy off to his room saying goodnight to the other two. Leo yelled a ‘be good’ at them as they disappeared inside the room. Jason picked up some of the glasses and carried them to the kitchen. He glanced at the door wondering if, now that the music was off and almost everyone left, the door would open.

“Hey,” Leo said bring the empty boxes of pizza. “Curious about Nico?” he asked.

“I guess. He’s the only one I haven’t met yet.” Jason admitted. He must have been too obvious.

“Don’t expect to see him often. He just stays in his room most of the time.” Leo informed.

“Percy didn’t seem too fond of him.” Jason said.

“Can’t blame him. Nico’s a little… strange, I guess. He keeps to himself, but is always on time with his rent and stuff.”

“I see. So, you never hang out, huh?” Jason asked.

“Not really. I do know he works somewhere fairly close by. He should be a year younger than you.” Jason couldn’t help by be impressed. Someone who is completely alone and young, like Nico, was working and supporting himself. And he didn’t even know what he ‘wanted to become when he grew up’.

“He must be lonely.” He thought out loud. Leo stared at him for a moment.

“Who knows? We have invited him many times when he first moved in, but he never joined us.” He said. “There’s something strange about him, but you’ll bump into him eventually.” Leo sighed.

“Yeah.”

“Well, time for bed. It’s so late it will be early soon.” he said.

Jason agreed.


	2. New Habits and Friends

At first Jason felt terrified. Perhaps he always gave off the feeling that he can do anything and everything, but walking around during orientation really made him feel helpless. His father would laugh at him and probably tell him ‘I told you you’d regret it, son’ or something along those lines. Yes, he didn’t know what he was doing or where he was going, but that definitely didn’t mean he regretted it, Jason decided, and followed the map from building to building as he registered and signed up for a gazillion different lessons.

He discovered that one week was definitely not enough for him to get used to college life. In fact, he could almost swear that Freshman Orientation confused him even more. Jason was asked to join a bunch of clubs and met so many people that he was sure he would never remember their faces and/or names. Ever! Percy and Leo laughed their heads off when he told them about his first day at college. Leo admitted that someone stole his mattress when he moved in the dorms and Percy that he was unlucky enough to share a room with a big beefy and very smelly guy named Bruce. Jason was glad that they defused his stress in mere moments.

It was a couple of weeks later when Jason had finally attended all of the classes he signed up for. Several of which was already thinking of dropping, since the subject was either uninteresting after all or the professor seemed to be a little (or a lot) on the mad side. The last thing he needed was a crazy professor trying to confuse him even more.

He tried to concentrate. The current professor lecturing seemed more bored of freshmen than any other. Jason wondered why he was teaching if he’s so fed up with freshmen and why doesn't he teach an older year instead. He sighed to himself and scanned the lecture hall instead. Most of the people in the room were on the verge of sleep. He noticed a girl at the end of his row was braiding part of her hair over and over again. She seemed as interested in the lesson as anyone else. Jason didn't blame her as he yawned so widely the edges of his mouth hurt. He was definitely going to sleep for 10 hours tonight, he thought.

The same girl sat a couple of seats to his left during the next lecture. Jason stared for moment as she settled in her seat and took out a notebook and a pen. For some reason, he thought she looked back at him when he wasn't looking. He wasn't sure if he would describe her as beautiful. She was, but in an unconventional way. He decided that it didn’t really matter and it was probably a coincidence anyway. Many took these basic classes to find out which ones they are interested in. He was already seeing familiar faces in the crowd after all.

On his way out after the lecture, she called out to him.

"Hey, you!"

Jason turned around. The girl quickly packed her things in a large backpack.

"Yes?" he asked cautiously. The girl walked to him.

"Let's get a coffee." She said. It didn’t sound like a question. Jason’s eyebrows furrowed for a moment in confusion.

"It's not a date," she added. "Let's talk about class." Jason wasn’t sure why she hurried to say it wasn’t a date. He didn’t assume it was.

"Right, okay." He said and followed her down to the cafeteria.

"I saw you in the earlier lecture, too." She said with a big smile. Jason thought her eyes were playing a trick on him. He wouldn't be able to describe all the colors that mixed together.

"Yeah, totally dropping that one! You?" The girl nodded. "I'm Jason," he added.

"Piper," the girl replied. "I don't know, I hear rumors that he's always like that when he starts the semester because there's way too many undeclared freshmen, so he gets rid this way of those not genuinely interested in the subject and when the last bunch remains, he has the best class ever!" she paused. "I'd stick around for that." She smiled a rather charming smile, Jason thought.

"That is so evil.” Jason said after Piper’s explanation. “Why would a professor do that?” Piper laughed and nodded in agreement. He wasn’t so sure she did agree.

"I'd probably do something like that if I were a professor of a class every single freshman took. Wouldn't that be too annoying?" Jason shrugged.

"Yeah, I suppose.” He said. “Not that I ever plan to be a college professor.”

“You don’t dream big enough, Jason!” She laughed.

“I guess I’m one of those ‘undecided of my future’ people.” He admitted. “You?”

"Same, but I'll figure it out sooner or later, right?"

 

He was a little envious of how confidently she said that. His biggest fear was failing after all, and that he had no idea what his major was going to be. He had several arguments throughout his senior year in high school with his father about this matter. He didn’t want to study politics or become a lawyer for that matter. He didn’t want to take on sports either. Although he liked playing, his goal was never to become a professional athlete no matter how much he excelled at it. In the end, his father gave in since Thalia was already in NYC. Despite their bad relationships, he was sure his father missed her, too.

For the zillionth time he told himself that there was no reason to fear or regret anything. He was having a good time and he was meeting great people. He was sure Piper McLean was one of them, too. They slowly sipped a fairly drinkable cup of coffee in the overcrowded cafeteria on the ground floor and chatted about everything. Jason discovered that she was the daughter of a famous actor. But he really didn't care about that. And that Piper was as undecided as he was, but she didn't seem to be too bothered about it. She even told him to take it easy and not worry about it. Jason couldn't understand how she could be so relaxed, but it was great to have someone tell him that it's okay not to know yet.

In the end, they exchanged phone numbers and agreed to meet for a group study, or simply to chat about which professors were ugly or funnier than others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several weeks later Jason couldn’t shake this weird feeling he had off. He got along so great with Percy and Leo and even took Buford to play at the dog park sometimes; he even made a couple of friends in university, Piper being the one he hung out with most frequently, but he had yet to meet his last flat mate, Nico di Angelo. The only reason he knew his full name was because of the mail arriving in his name occasionally. Once it was a white, rather official looking envelope. He remembered looking at it for a moment longer before placing it in the pile with the other letters. But now it was October and Nico didn’t join when they all decorated the flat for Halloween on the weekend. He wondered if he should, after all, make an effort of communication. He debated for half an hour and then took a page out from one of his notebooks and wrote on it:

 

Hello,

my name is Jason.

(I’m technically your new flat mate)

 

He slid the sheet under Nico’s door and returned to his room. He tried not to think about it. Even if Nico was the elusive type, Jason felt uncomfortable not having introduced himself properly.

He lay on his bed staring at the ceiling for a long time. Sometimes he felt like he will never be able to catch up to the rhythm of New York, but he was enjoying every moment of it. He didn’t even realize when he fell asleep.

 

Jason hit his alarm clock hard. The annoying beeping sound stopped in an instant. He groaned as he rolled over on the bed, covers turning around him. I feel like a burrito, he thought, amused since that’s what Leo was going to say if he saw him like that. He got up, happy not to hear the other two rushing for the bathroom first thing in the morning. He dragged his feet across his room kicking something. When he looked down he saw a piece of paper. He picked it up.

 

 

_Hi Jason._

_I’m Nico._

 

Nico’s handwriting was neat and bordering calligraphy next to his own scribbling. Maybe he was exaggerating a little bit. He couldn’t help but smile at the message on the paper. At least Nico replied. He hoped for a reply, but he thought that the younger boy would be too antisocial to respond. He turned to his desk forgetting momentarily about the bathroom and took another piece of paper.

 

Nice to meet you.

This is a strange way to meet, isn’t it?

 

He wasn’t sure what to write. Asking Nico things or telling him about himself seemed unnecessary at the moment and he wished Nico would want to meet him on his own rather than walk around the house in a hurry or quietly like a cat. He slid this message under Nico’s door like the first one and went to the bathroom.

During lunch, Piper laughed at him and his idea to put a message under Nico’s door, but she agreed that it was strange not to have seen someone who actually shares the same roof. Jason said that it’s not very uncommon, to which she also agreed, but said that it’s not ‘right’. He kept spacing out, thinking about what the reply will say.

 

 

In the evening Jason found the same paper under his door. This time, under his message Nico left his.

 

Nice to meet you.

This is a strange way to meet, isn’t it?

_Yeah, it is._

 

He did write back! Jason smiled at himself as he read the message. It was so awkward, but it was a reply. He wondered what he should write next and left the paper on his desk. Perhaps it would be Nico who would send the next message. Jason knew that even Piper would tell him that was unlikely to happen.

 

 

Before Jason realized, slipping messages under Nico’s door became a routine. A routine he really enjoyed too. So maybe November came and he still had not met Nico di Angelo in person, but he knew more things about him than Percy and Leo combined. Or so, he hoped.

 

 

What’s your favorite food?

_McDonald’s._

 

Jason shook his head, amused at that one.

 

 

Summer or Winter? I like Summer better.

_Winter is better._

 

 

Jason wondered if his choice of season was too obvious because he was used to California warm weather instead. He was already freezing all the time.

 

 

Do you listen to music when you go to sleep?

_Sometimes. You could say that._

 

 

Jason was a little confused, but he had an answer. Maybe he would ask him about it when they met properly.

 

Do you doodle at work when you’re bored?

_I mostly read._

 

 

Jason stared at the open textbook in front of him. Not only did he doodle, but he also highlighted and wrote notes on his books. Annabeth would kill him for his messy habit.

 

 

What’s your favorite scent?

_Vanilla and Lavender. You?_

 

Jason stared at the paper. This was the very first time Nico actually put a question mark there. He asked him something back. He thought about it for a long time, forgetting the spaghetti that resulted in a pasta goop thing that wasn’t really edible. But he answered.

 

I like the smell of the sea. Is that too lame?

Left handed or right handed?

_Left handed._

_You’re from California. It’s expected._

 

 

He didn't expect this kind of answer. Nico already knew where he was from. Maybe he overheard it one of the many times Jason or Leo called him a warm-blooded California guy especially now that he was going around with a blanket permanently attached on his shoulders.

 

My hometown isn’t on the seafront though.

Sleeping with socks on or not?

_Is that so?_

_With socks._

 

 

Jason found himself smiling every time he woke up to find one of these messages under his door. Sometimes, they appeared in the morning and other times they were just there when he returned after a long day of classes. No matter when, though, they never failed to cheer him up.

 

 

Sacramento. I also sometimes sleep with socks on.

Especially in winter in NYC.

_You should wait for the snow, Jason Grace._

 

Jason laughed. He had very mixed feelings about the snow. He enjoyed the skiing trips, but he didn’t know how to deal with snow on a daily basis. He hoped the winter wouldn’t be too harsh. He was well prepared with a huge puffy duvet for the cold nights and a warm parka jacket with fleece fur inside to keep him even warmer. Jason decided that December and generally winter was not his season. He’d choose fall or spring.

 

Whenever they would sit in the living room, Jason would glance over at Nico’s door wondering if he was replying to his earlier message or if he already had and was waiting for the moment everyone was asleep in order to slip it under his door. Piper joked about his ridiculously protective attitude over a boy he had yet to meet, but the truth was that she was just as curious as Jason. She even invited herself over at the flat to meet Leo and Percy, but also in hope that she would spot the mysterious guy before Jason himself managed to do so.


	3. First Impressions

Jason groaned and opened his eyes slowly. It was still dark. He checked the clock on his bedside table. Most winter mornings were dark and he wasn’t used to it. He sat up slowly knowing what woke him up was nature’s call and not his alarm. He cursed in his head as he wrapped himself in his small fleece blanket and dragged his feet toward the bathroom. He made it down the hallway and into the living room when he saw the storage room door opened quickly. A figure dressed in black rushed out and disappeared in the bathroom before Jason could blink.

Was he wearing a jacket indoors? It was Jason’s first thought as the boy closed the door behind him. He heard him cough a couple of times.

Jason stood in the middle of the living room for a few moments. He rubbed his eyes trying to see in the dark and noticed Nico’s door was half open. He probably rushed to the bathroom so quickly that he didn’t bother to close it behind him. Besides, at five in the morning, everyone was asleep and Nico probably didn’t hear or see Jason behind him. Curious he took a few steps closer to the room. He looked at the bathroom door once more and without really thinking about it he pushed the door just a bit.

Looking inside the room, Jason saw just how small it was. It was narrow and dark. He also noticed that there was a strange smell in the room. He couldn’t place it, but it wasn’t bad. Like the remnants of smoke and vanilla mixed together. Maybe it was the candle lighting the room. The walls were covered in dark tapestry that was coming undone. Or that’s how it seemed. It was too dark despite the small source of light.

The room was wide enough for a mattress and some. Jason frowned noticing the lack of a proper bed and the messy sheets. It’s freezing in here… he thought and wrapped the blanket around him tighter. He thought about how he’s not used to the cold yet and needs extra layers to feel warm enough and that huge duvet at night and here was a kid that only had a blanket and a sheet and never complained. He sighed and examined the room some more. Stacks of books sat next to the mattress, right under the single window that seemed to have a fan installed for ventilation.

 

 

“Can I help you?” a hoarse voice said behind him. Jason jumped on his feet, surprised. Nico must have come out of the bathroom and he didn’t even notice.

“Um, hi,” Jason said awkwardly. Nico just stared at him. It was the first time Jason actually saw Nico, head to toe, right in front of him.

The boy was shorter than him by a few inches. His height was roughly the same as Leo’s, but that’s probably the only thing they had in common. Nico stared back at him. His skin was pale, like he stayed indoors too long and his hair was messy and black and in need of haircut. Jason could feel Nico’s stare piercing through him, examining him just like he was doing. Jason wasn’t sure what to say. He couldn’t help but notice how Nico was fully dressed in a dark aviator’s jacket to keep him warm. He coughed.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-” Jason started.

“But you did anyway,” Nico cut him off. His tone was accusing and his gaze harsh.

Jason knew that look well enough. He had seen Thalia make this face a million times before. He was sure he did too.

“I apologized,” he said. “I’m Jason.”

“I know who you are,” Nico said looking away.

“It’s… it’s good to meet you in person.” Jason said. Nico looked up again.

“Right. Yeah, sure.” Nico dismissed it.

The pause was long and awkward, but Jason felt like he wanted to ask him a million questions. Just like he was asking in the notes. “Do you need anything?” Nico asked when Jason didn’t say anything.

“Not really.” He paused. “I just wanted to meet you, I guess.” Jason smiled. Nico raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, it’s just… you were the only one I haven’t met and I thought it was, I don’t know, rude, somehow…” Way to make it more awkward, Jason, he thought.

“Is that why you left all the notes under my door?” Nico asked.

“Yeah, I guess.” He coughed again.

“Are you alright?” Jason asked out of habit, but Nico didn’t seem too good.

“I’m fine.” The younger said.

“Do you want some hot tea, maybe? I was going to make some.” He lied, but he wasn’t really expecting Nico to accept. He tried.

“No, I’m good.” he said and stared at him. Jason stared back. He was sure Nico could use a hot beverage. Maybe he should make tea anyway. Then he remembered he was still standing in front of Nico’s room. “Oh! Sorry, I’m in your way.” He stepped aside and Nico walked in.

“It’s fine. Good night, Jason.” Nico said and closed the door behind him when Jason replied with good night as well.

Jason went to the bathroom and then to the kitchen. He didn’t need much time to decide that the tea was needed. He could still hear Nico cough every now and then in his room. He let the water boil and ten minutes later he knocked on his door. There was rustling of sheets and more coughing and then the door opened. Nico stood in front of him, leaning against the doorframe. He looked at him annoyed.

“I made some tea,” he said. “But it’s too much, so… here.” He held out the large cup. Nico looked at it. “Please take it. It will help with your cough.” Jason explained.

“You shouldn’t have.” His expression was cold, but not annoyed any more. At least, not that much.

“But I did, so take it.” Jason pushed the cup towards him. Nico sighed heavily and took it from his hands making him smile.

“Thanks. Goodnight then.”

“Goodnight.” Jason mumbled as Nico closed the door in front of him again.

He wasn’t sure why, but he felt like he actually accomplished something. Even more so than the notes they exchanged, Nico had opened the door when he knocked and he did talk to him earlier. Jason returned to his room feeling pleased at how he could put a face to Nico’s name now. He only hoped that Nico’s first impression of Jason wasn’t a bad one.

 

 

 

 

The next morning, Jason heard Nico coughing when he pressed his ear to his door to check if the boy was inside. He coughed a couple of times hard, but Jason didn't have enough time to knock and ask him if he wanted some more tea. He was already late for his morning classes. Perhaps he would stop on his way back by the pharmacy and buy some cold medicine. And some cough syrup. Piper kept nudging him all day to stop spacing out.

“What are you thinking about so intensely?” She asked as they walked to their next lecture.

“Nothing, really.” He said. Piper gave him the ‘I don’t believe you’ look. “I met Nico at night.”

“What? And you didn’t tell me?!” Piper stopped for a moment and then caught up with Jason who laughed.

“OK, okay. What do you want to kn—“

“Everything?” She said as if anything less would be preposterous.

“I got up to go to the bathroom, but he beat me too it. So I waited and… may have peaked in his room and he caught me.” Jason felt a little guilty when he thought about it. He practically invaded his privacy.

“And? What does he look like? You were always curious.” Piper egged him on.

“He’s, I think, around Leo’s height? And he was very pale. I think he was ill, though, ‘cause he kept coughing in that disturbing way. You know, like it’s scratching at your throat.” His face furrowed as he thought about it. He noted ‘cough syrup’ in his mind once again and looked at Piper. “His hair seemed black, but it was night and I couldn’t really tell. Sorry.”

Piper sighed.

“Don’t sound so disappointed!” He nudged her. She nudged back laughing.

“I’m not.” They sat down on their regular back seats at the lecture hall. “Do you think you’ll see him again soon?” She asked. Jason shrugged. He had no idea.

 

 

 

 

 

When Jason left the campus it was already dark outside. The cold wind seemed to seep through his jacket and through his skin and hit his bones. He shivered. It was frustrating that no matter what he did; he was still feeling the cold chill of New York. He wrapped the scarf around his neck another time and made his way home. He turned around the corner from the apartment building when he remembered Nico again. That kid must be freezing, he thought. He hoped his cold hadn't gotten worse and turned back to go to the pharmacy he just passed.

 

 

"Welcome to Asclepius Pharmacy." An old man said, showing up behind the counter. He had white hair and a big bushy white beard smiled at him. "How can I help you, young man?" he asked in his raspy voice.

"I'd like some cold medicine, please." He wasn't sure if it was just a cold Nico had, but it was worth the shot.

"Cold medicine... what kind? Pills, something to dilute into water?" the old man asked.

"Pills, I guess?" Jason didn't remember getting sick often, and then he never had to take more than a simple painkiller for a headache. Medicine always tasted terrible, so pills should be the simpler choice.

"These should do it. They are very good for all symptoms, though they might make you sleepy.” The grandpa said. "Two pills every 6 hours. If the symptoms are light, you may take one pill instead."

"I understand," Jason said. He paused for moment. "Is there something else I can give them or do for someone with a cold? He doesn't seem to take good care of his health... He had a bad cough as well."

"A cough... I would recommend this cough syrup. One spoonful every morning and night, lots of tea with honey and staying warm." Jason nodded at the instructions. The old man smiled.

“Thank you." Jason paid and left quickly. There was definitely something strange about this man. He wasn't sure what, but there was a strange twinkle in his eye.

 

He hurried back home. Everything was dark when he arrived and for a moment he thought no one was home, but he heard the coughing echo in the silence. He shook his head knowing that Nico probably stayed in his cold room, which should probably be renamed as 'the north pole' instead of 'the storage room', and turned on the heating. It was the least he could do for now. He went to the kitchen to get a glass of water and knocked on Nico's door.

"Nico? It's Jason," he said knocking a couple of times. Nico didn't respond. "Nico?" he asked again after a pause. But the younger boy didn't respond or get up to open the door. Jason knocked again. After two whole minutes of silence, Jason decided to go in anyway.

The room was dark. Jason looked around for a switch. When he found it on the wall next to him and flicked it he realized the bulb was burned out. Why didn’t he change it? Jason went to the kitchen and grabbed the emergency flashlight and returned to the room.

On the mattress were a bundle of sheets he assumed was Nico tangled up. Jason knelt next to him and set the flashlight to look at the ceiling. He pushed the sheets around a bit to find Nico under them, as expected. The boy was sweaty, hair sticking to his neck and forehead; his breathing heavy with the occasional deep cough. Jason set the medicine on the side and tried to get Nico to wake up.

 

“Nico, wake up.” He pushed at his shoulder lightly shaking him. Nico didn’t respond. He just trembled a little, his teeth chattering. “Nico, wake up, I have medicine. It will make you better.” He continued and shook him a little harder. Nico groaned but didn’t wake up.

Percy was studying at Annabeth and Leo wasn’t back yet or maybe he was walking Buford since the puppy seemed to be absent as well. He wasn’t going to get any help from them. He sighed thinking of his options and took out his phone to dial Piper.

“Hello!” she chanted happily.

“Hey.”

“What’s up?”

“I need your advice with something…” Jason said.

“Sure…” she said suspiciously. “Is this about a girl? Cause you’ve never come to me with this kind of trouble before.” Jason laughed a little.

“No, I just have a sick person here.” Jason said. Piper responded with an ‘oh’ probably remembering earlier when Jason told her about Nico. “He seems to have a high fever and won’t wake up. Do you know what I should do?”

“How high a fever?”

“I have no idea. Just… do you know anything that might help?” he asked more urgently.

“A shower? It’s usually what helps. Not cool one. It might shock him! Lukewarm should be fine. Otherwise, keep him warm in bed and give him medicine for the fever, I suppose.” she said.

“Shower, right. Okay, thanks Piper!” he said. “Gotta go, talk to you later.”

“Sure thing, Sparky.” She said as Jason hung up.

Jason untangled Nico from the sheets and held him in a sitting position. Nico shivered.

“Time for a shower, buddy.” He said and tried to balance him and take his jacket off. He continued to remove his pants and shirt and then lifted him and took him to the bathroom. Lukewarm water is better… He recalled. He was really glad for their small bathtub this time. It was handy. He was able to put Nico in a sitting position without sliding off. The boy held his breath as his back touched the cold bathtub. Jason kept looking at him worried. He quickly adjusted the water in a lukewarm temperature.

“You’ll be okay, don’t worry.” He said quietly more to himself than to Nico.

Nico hissed when the first drips of water hit his legs. His teeth chattered audibly. Jason continued to wash him little by little so he would adjust. Nico blinked, unfocused and looked around him. He looked really disoriented.

“Is it better now?” Jason asked as he rinsed his hair again. Nico grunted something that sounded almost like a ‘yes’. He was glad. He was doing something right if Nico could manage some form of response.

 

When Nico seemed to have cooled down a little, Jason held him up and wrapped him in his bathrobe. Nico swayed and shivered. He didn’t seem to have any strength left in him. Jason wrapped his hair in a towel as well and carried him to the living room. His room was a mess and obviously too cold. He took a blanket from his own room and an extra pillow and covered Nico as best he could as the younger lay on the couch, already half asleep. He sighed and patted his hair dry a little more before going to the storage room.

He looked around in the faint light from the flashlight and sighed. He knew they had extra light bulbs in the kitchen cabinet. It didn’t take him long to find it. He grabbed a chair and changed it, then gathered the overused sheets form the bed and along with Nico’s clothes put them in the laundry basket. He could just replace them with bedding of his own for now. Jason took a step back and looked at the room, with actual light now and a tidy bed. Much better. But Nico wasn’t going to get any better if the room was freezing like that all night. He heard him cough and turned to look at him through the door. Even though he seemed to be doing better, he was still that greenish pale color and his cough didn’t seem to have stopped at all.

Jason kneeled next to him and shook his shoulder. “Nico,” he opened his eyes for a moment. A good sign. “Your room is freezing.” Jason said.

Keys turned in the door. Jason turned. Someone was back and couldn’t probably give him a hand. Leo appeared with Buford in his arms. The puppy barked at Jason. Leo stared for a long moment, confused.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Nico’s sick.” Jason said. “I helped him have a shower, but his room is totally freezing!”

Leo stared at him. Clearly he also didn’t know much about these situations either. Or, at least, didn’t want to be involved.

“Maybe I should take him in my room, it’s warmer in there.” Jason muttered.

“You have that big fluffy duvet too, you can roll him into a burrito.” Leo laughed.

Jason turned to Nico. “How does that sound? It will be warm.”

“I’ll be fine in my room, I’m used to it.” Nico said weakly opening his eyes again.

“Who are you? Queen Elsa?” Leo asked almost scandalized. “The cold never bothered me anyway~” he sang. Jason couldn’t help but smile. At least Leo tried to lighten the mood. He turned back to Nico.

“You may be used to the North Pole in there, but it won’t help you get better and you have a high fever.” There was a pause.

“Where will you sleep?” Nico asked, his eyebrows creasing. Nico raised his arm and rubbed his eyes a little. His movements were slow.

“The bed is big enough. Don’t worry.” He waited for a confirmation. “Come on, I’ll take you.” Jason put an arm around Nico to help him sit up.

“It’s fine! I can… I can walk!” Nico protested and turned around on the couch. Slowly he got up and even though he didn’t seem very stable he managed to walk across the living room on his own. Jason followed behind him, just in case.

“They say body heat works best!” Leo chanted behind them as they went in Jason’s room. Jason felt his face grow hot suddenly, embarrassed. He should have known that Leo would say something like that.

Nico went ahead in the room. For a moment, Jason stood watching him as he examined his room. He wondered if, when he was absent, Nico had come in to leave a note. Or perhaps he just slipped it under the door. He guessed there was no point in going in only to leave a note on the floor.

“Let me give you something to wear.” Jason pulled a sweater, pants and underwear out of his closet and passed them to Nico. “Here, you can wear these. I’ll just go bring the medicine.” Nico stared at him, his eyes red, as he held onto the clothes. He nodded.

Jason returned to Nico’s room where he left the medicine and a glass of water next to his bed. He examined the box of pills and the cough syrup. He should really have a space heater in his room. In the past hour the room only grew colder even though the flat was in a decent temperature.

He went to the kitchen and made a sandwich. After all, medicine should work better if he has eaten something and Jason had the feeling that Nico skipped out on food all day. He knocked on the door, balancing the place on his hand.

“Can I come in?” he asked.

“Yes,” he heard a reply. He opened the door to find Nico sitting on the bed.

The grey tracksuit was a little big on him and the sleeves were a little long. He reckoned it would be a lot more comfortable than jeans and an aviator jacket. Jason smiled at him.

“Feeling better?” he asked, putting down the plate.

Nico nodded and muttered a ‘yes’.

“Here’s the medicine. It should work for your fever too… and cough syrup.”

Nico made a face.

“It must hurt to cough like that all the time.” Jason said as Nico tried to hold his coughing. The boy shrugged and took the cough syrup. He examined the bottle.

“One spoon in the morning and one at night. That’s what the pharmacist said.” Nico nodded at the instructions and proceeded to take the medicine.

“If you can, you should try to eat something. It will probably make the medicine work better.” Nico sighed and looked at him, then at the sandwich.

“I’m not sure I can eat.” He mumbled.

“Even a bite is better than nothing.” Jason smiled. “Just try?”

Nico shot him a strange look. It was almost like he was accusing him of something. Like Jason was the bad guy. Confused, Jason stared back. Nico looked away first giving up on this strange staring contest.

“We should dry your hair.” Jason said after awhile, as Nico seemed to have another stare contest with the sandwich instead. “I’ll go get a blow dryer.”

By the time Jason returned, Nico had eaten exactly two bites, left the plate on the side table and snuck under the big duvet. Somehow, he seemed tiny under the fluffy covers. He groaned when Jason told him to sit up so he can dry his hair a little, but let the older do as he pleased. Jason started feeling like some sort of guardian or a nurse. He was always the youngest, having no other siblings to take care of. He wondered if his sister felt like this about him.

Jason tucked him under the covers again when he was sure Nico’s hair was dry enough.

“Get some sleep. I’ll be outside.”

Nico nodded and thanked him so quietly Jason almost missed the words. He thought he should call Piper and thank her for the advice. He’d have been useless without it. She just laughed on the phone and gave him some more advice that she looked up and told him to make sure Nico was all right. It was a little strange how she spoke fondly of him, despite not having met him. Perhaps Jason spoke about the boy a little too often to her. He laughed at himself, embarrassed.

 

 

 

Jason woke up early the next morning. The first he saw when he opened his eyes was Nico, who was covered up to his chin. His forehead was sweaty again with hair sticking everywhere. His fever must have gone up again, he thought. He got up, stretched and went to wet a towel to put on his forehead. That was Piper’s advice last night. ‘Pat him with a lukewarm wet towel to cool him down for a bit’.

Jason found Percy in the kitchen sipping coffee and playing on his phone.

“Hey, you’re up early!” Percy said. “G’morning!” Jason nodded sheepishly.

“Good morning. I slept early. You?” Jason asked.

“I just came back from Annabeth’s.” He replied. “But we still have loads of studying for the midterms, so she will come over later.” Jason heard him continue from the bathroom. “Want coffee?” Percy asked.

“Yeah, that’d be great. I’ll be right back though.” He said, holding the wet hand towel.

 

He found Nico the same way he left him. He was probably sleeping deeply. Carefully, so as to not wake him up, he sat on the edge of the bed and folded the towel before patting his forehead. Then his cheeks and neck. I should probably wake him up to take medicine and eat, Jason thought. He set the towel on Nico’s forehead to keep him cool until he found something to cook for breakfast that he could eat. Nico probably couldn’t eat the sandwich because of the sore throat.

Percy was still sipping coffee when Jason returned to the kitchen. He sat at the table.

“Everything okay?” The older asked.

“Yeah, why?”

For some strange reason Jason felt like having an ill Nico in his room was suddenly a secret. Percy didn’t know and it was stupid because Leo could easily have already told him that Jason was taking care of the younger. He was over-thinking again. He shook his head. He really needed to stop thinking so much.

“Are you sure?” Percy asked. “You seem… a little suspicious this great, cold morning.”

Jason turned on his seat.

“OH MY GOD!” Percy suddenly yelled. Surprised, Jason stared at him. “Do you have a girl in there?! DID YOU BRING A GIRL HOME, JASON GRACE!” Percy had gotten up and shook Jason by the shoulders as if getting laid was the equivalent to marriage or something. Then Percy let go and rushed across the living room to Jason’s room.

Jason stood there for a second before registering that Percy was about to barge in his room, not that this wasn’t a common occurrence in the house, and find Nico di Angelo in his bed. He hung his head and rushed to stop Percy.

“Percy, no, stop.” Jason pulled his hand, but Percy had already opened the door.

“AHA! You’re hiding her? Oh, come on, Jason!” Percy pleaded; eyes goggling like Buford did to get his favorite snack.

Percy didn’t wait and stepped into the room to see the ‘girl’ under the covers. He stopped after taking a peek. Then stepped back and stared perplexed. He turned to Jason.

“That’s Nico…” he stated.

“Yes. Yes, it is.” Jason said quietly feeling his face burning. He couldn’t understand why.

“Why…?” He started saying, confused.

“He’s sick, so yesterday I took care of him.” Jason explained.

It was obvious that the boy wasn’t well, so there was no way Percy could misunderstand that no matter how much he wanted to.

“His room was freezing, so I couldn’t leave him there…” Jason shouldn’t feel like he needs to defend himself. He waited for Percy to say something.

“Oh, right. I didn’t think of that.” Percy said as if finally it made sense. “It’s a cold winter.”

“I was thinking… do we have a space heater or something? He’ll just become more ill if he stays there.”

Jason thought about it last night, but Leo said he didn’t have one and wasn’t sure if Percy did. Jason concluded that in the worse case he could always go to the electronics store and get a cheap one. It was no big deal.

“No, I don’t have one.” Percy said concerned. “He never said anything… I thought it wouldn’t be too cold in there since the whole flat is heated well.”

Jason shrugged. “I think that even if you asked him, he would say that he’s used to it.”

Percy shrugged and exited the room.

“Lucky someone found him, at least.” He said leaving Jason behind.

 

Nico mumbled something in his sleep and kicked at the duvet. He was probably boiling under such heavy covers because he wasn’t used to it. Jason walked to the bed. He sat at the edge and shook him awake.

“Hey, Nico, time to wake up.”

The boy shivered a little and opened his eyes with difficulty. He blinked a few times at Jason as if trying to remember what happened.

“Good morning.” Jason smiled at him. “Your head must hurt, your fever is up.” Nico nodded. “Can you sit up?”

“Yeah,” he said; voice hoarse and small. Jason waited for him to sit up slowly. He groaned and pulled himself up. Jason passed the pills to Nico and the glass of water. Nico half-winced again at the sight of the pills and the cough syrup.

“Disgusting,” he said and coughed right after.

“Isn’t all medicine like that?” Nico glared at him. “I know it’s terrible, but it’s helping.”

“Right.” Nico looked away annoyed. Jason took the glass.

“Do you think you can eat something?” He asked. Nico shrugged. “Well, I’ll go and bring something. You can rest.” He passed him the wet towel again and got up.

 

 

 

 

Percy was in the living room watching morning cartoons. He stared at Jason as he went to the kitchen and looked around in the fridge and the cupboards for things to cook. He ended up messaging Piper again when he realized he had no idea what to cook.

“What?” He asked Percy who was still staring every other second.

“Nothing… didn’t know you guys actually met.” Percy mused looking at the TV.

“We met last night, but we exchanged some messages before.” Jason explained.

“Yesterday!? That’s some escalation!” Jason nodded.

It was strange that they only met in person last night, Jason agreed. But he was glad it happened. He was also glad that he checked up on him. Nico might have gotten a lot worse overnight if he didn’t find him and by the looks of how Leo and Percy avoided the younger he was lucky. He checked his phone, but Piper hadn’t replied. He sighed.

 

“I’ll go to the mall, need anything?” Jason asked. Percy smirked.

“Hmmm, let me think.” Percy was clearly going to make fun of him. “A space heater?”

“Funny.” Jason replied un-amused. He took his keys and left, not waiting to hear if Percy actually did want something or not. He was just going to be a smart ass about it, anyway.

 

 

 

 

When Jason returned home, he found Nico sleeping on the couch surrounded by discarded tissues and Buford sleeping next to his legs. The TV was playing some noon gossip show quietly. He spotted Percy and Annabeth in the kitchen, their heads together, chatting quietly. They looked over when Jason came in carrying two large bags. Annabeth smiled at him and elbowed Percy.

“You really did buy one!” Percy laughed when Jason joined them after leaving the bags in front of Nico’s door. Annabeth glared at him.

“Yeah, I think he’ll want one anyway.” Jason said. “Are you guys cooking?”

“Percy was concerned.” Annabeth explained with emphasis. “And asked me to come and make some soup. I was actually surprised!” Jason looked back at Nico passed out on the couch. “He fell asleep about ten minutes ago.”

“I see. Then I’ll just go put that in his room.”

He was glad that Nico was well enough to come to the living room and watch some TV. He knew, according to his flat mates that he never did that before. At least he didn’t go back to his room. He wondered if he left the room in order to go to the bathroom and Percy stopped him. In any case, the fact that he fell asleep on the couch was a good thing.

Jason turned on the light in Nico’s room. It still smelled faintly like vanilla and smoke from the candles. Nico must really like the scent if he still used them, he thought as he dragged in the space heater and unboxed it. The instructions were pretty simple. He plugged it in the extension he found in the corner and set it in the best possible position to heat the small space. Feeling pleased at how the halogen heater lit up the room as well, he turned it off and grabbed the other bag. He unrolled the fleece blanket from its plastic bag and set it on the bed. He was sure that Nico won’t like any of these things. Changing his sheets, the light bulb, the heater, and the blanket. He sighed heavily. Maybe all this was a terrible idea. Still, he grabbed the laundry basket filled with sheets and clothes. He had to do laundry for himself anyway. He might as well wash these too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Jason returned from the Laundromat, Nico was awake. Annabeth had put a bowl of soup in front of him too, but he was barely eating. He looked up at Jason questioningly as he carried the clothes and sheets folded in the basket.

“You’re up!” Jason exclaimed. Nico nodded and sipped some soup reluctantly.

Jason put the basket of clothes on the floor and sat next to him. He looked at Annabeth and Percy who seemed to be studying on the kitchen table.

“Don’t feel like eating?” he asked. Nico shrugged. “I know! You don’t like soup either!” Nico turned and glared at him for a long moment.

“Shut up,” he said in a hoarse voice. Jason nodded accepting his fate. It was better not to say anything.

He got up again and took his basket of clothes to his room, then took the few that were Nico’s and returned them to his room. He felt Nico’s eyes follow him everywhere as he did so.

“I had to do some laundry, so I did yours too.” Jason explained and returned to sit next to him. Nico was still glaring at him. He didn’t expect anything else.

“Why?” he asked trying not to burst in a series of coughs.

“It was no big deal.” Jason shrugged.

“I didn’t ask you.”

Jason started fearing about Nico’s reaction at the things he bought for him. Maybe it would be easier to tell him slowly, but he was sure Nico would be mad at him. The boy next to him was sipping the soup slowly, occasionally making faces and coughing. Jason noticed the sweater sleeves hanging long on Nico’s arms. It must have been two sizes too big on him. Jason sighed.

“You won’t like it.” He said.

“I won’t like what?” Nico asked.

“I got you something earlier.” Jason paused and turned to look at him. “It’s not much, but I’m sure you’ll use it well.” Nico’s eyes narrowed. Jason got up.

“Come.” he said.

Nico set the bowl on the desk and got up, the blanket falling from his shoulders. Jason went to Nico’s room with him following closely and looking suspiciously at him. He was sure that Percy and Annabeth were staring as well. He let Nico go inside first and he stood at the doorway.

“What--?” Nico started. Jason flicked the light in the small room. Nico, surprised, looked around as if it had been a very long time since he had proper light in there. A moment later he spotted the differences. The clean sheets, the blanket on his mattress. The halogen space heater on the side. Jason smiled at him.

“What is all this?” the boy demanded. He looked at Jason.

“Well, you didn’t have any light in your room… so it wasn’t a problem to change a light bulb… “ He explained.

“And the rest? What is all this stuff?” Nico coughed a few times. He definitely sounded angry, but Jason already expected that.

“You’re really sick, Nico. And this room has no heating. How do you expect to get well if you stay in this room?” Jason hoped that Nico would accept the things. It would help keep him warm after all.

“I didn’t ask for these things! Why would you go ahead and buy…” He burst into another series of coughs.

“Nico, just accept them. It’s just a blanket. You were shivering.”

Nico calmed down after a few seconds. He stayed silent looking down at the folded blanket on his mattress. He didn’t make a move to say or do anything and for a moment Jason wondered how he’s going to react. He just hoped Nico would agree things were better this way.

“Just accept them.” Jason repeated. He put his hand on Nico’s shoulder for a moment and left the room. Maybe it was hard for him to accept things from others. Jason wished he’d think of it as a present, but he only managed to reach his room and close the door before it opened again.

Nico entered the room in a hurry, took two long strides to reach him and extended his hand.

“Here!” He said. His voice was unsteady and hoarse. He coughed lightly. “I don’t know how much it was, but maybe this covers it.” Jason looked at the money Nico was holding out. He sighed.

“Nico, you don't have to—”

“I do. Now take it!” His voice rose higher. Jason contemplated for a moment the best option, but decided that taking the money would put Nico at ease. Would this make him happier?

“Tell me if it’s more. I’ll repay you.” He added.

“No, there’s a sale because of the season. This covers it.” It wasn’t exactly a lie but he hadn’t paid as much as he originally thought. Nico looked at him suspiciously. “I’m not lying!” he defended himself. “There really were good prices!”

Nico frowned, his eyebrows creasing. He nodded.

“Understood.” He spun around on his heel and left Jason’s room nearly tripping over the long grey pants.

Jason couldn’t help but smile again.

He hoped that Nico would take care of himself now. He didn’t bother returning to the living room. Instead he lay down on his bed thinking about how things turned out. Meeting Nico, finding him sick and taking care of him…. Percy and Leo were wrong to think of him as weird or someone they should avoid. Nico was just a kid that needed attention. Probably.


	4. Closer

Jason kept an eye on Nico the following days. He had given him the medicine to take on his own since he wanted to remain in his room after claiming ‘it will be warm now’. Jason couldn't help but worry. He told Nico several times to ask for help if he’s not feeling well or if the fever rose, but he wasn’t sure that Nico would. He seemed too proud. Jason just wanted him to know that someone is around.

Nico, of course, spent most of the next couple of days in the storage room. Jason was sure he heard him leave at some point and return several hours later coughing uncontrollably. He wondered if he tried to go to work and knocked on his door. He saw the space heater being used and the blanket too, as he offered him a large cup of tea. Nico didn’t say much and accepted it without complaint. Jason was glad that the boy wasn't avoiding him. In the end, the more Jason thought about it the more he felt admiration for Nico. According to Percy and Leo’s stories, Nico must have been no more than 16 years old when he first moved in. It was never questioned why he was alone. Nico told them that he didn’t have anyone. After Nico moved into the storage room, the residents of the flat tried to socialize and learn more about the mysterious kid, but Nico was always elusive. He could slip in and out of the flat like a shadow, or so Percy claimed.

Jason wondered if Nico had friends in his workplace. The boy left the flat on Saturdays too, disappearing for hours, without anyone realizing he was gone. And just like that, he was back in his room. Jason laughed at his crazy thought that it was as if Nico had some strange teleporting superpower. Of course, that was ridiculous. He heard him sneak out several times.

 

 

 

A week into December, Leo summoned everyone in the living room and presented two large boxes. Jason looked at them confused. The only way to tell them apart was the large number one and two written with marker on the top flap.

“Oh, don’t look so confused, Jason. You know what this is!” Percy said grinning widely. When Jason didn’t say anything Leo burst out in laughter. “Christmas decorations, of course!” He exclaimed loudly.

“But of course!” Jason agreed. “What else would it be?” He shook his head. He ought to have thought about that.

“You scared me there for a moment, dude.” Percy said going for one of the boxes. Leo opened the other, took out a long red garland and wrapped it around his neck like a scarf.

“How do I look?” He asked while posing. Percy gave him the double thumbs up of approval.

“I think we might not need a Christmas tree.” Jason said skeptically. Leo threw a Santa Claus hat in his face, which he put on. It was a little small for his head, but he didn’t care.

“We’re getting the tree tomorrow!” Leo insisted as if that’s the natural thing to do. “We’re doing all the other decorating today.” He continued to take out ornaments and garlands and placed them on the coffee table and the floor. Jason looked at how eagerly both of his flat mates started unpacking the decorations from the boxes.

“Found it!” Percy exclaimed. Jason looked at what Percy pulled out of the other box. He should have guessed that the Santa hat was part of a suit. Percy took unfolded the suit, set the pants down and held the Santa coat out, measuring from distance how it would look on Jason. The glint in his green eyes seemed dangerous. Jason shook his head in horror.

“Nope. No way.” He said and took a step back.

“What do you mean ‘no’? This is a _must_!” Percy said. “I was Santa last year! Now it’s your turn! Congratulations!” Jason kept saying no.

“Look, there is no way that a) I can fit in that and b) that I am going to be Santa!” Jason said. Percy pouted, his eyes begging like Buford when he wants his favorite snack.

“Leo’s the Santa Elf and Buford’s the reindeer though.” Percy explained. “Come on, it’s fun! Be Father Christmas, Jason! Don’t let down the kids!” Jason thought that the only kids around are Percy and Leo.

“Found the beard too!” Leo jumped in. He didn’t just find it; he had already slipped it on and now sported a long curly white beard made out of polyester. Jason sighed.

“This is ridiculous!” He said. “I thought you guys said you would go home for the holidays!”

“Hmm, yes. That is the plan.” Percy said. Leo agreed saying he had a flight to Houston on the 21st of the month. “We’re having a Christmas Party on the 20th!”

“I didn’t know…” Jason mumbled. Percy looked at Leo. The shorter mouthed an ‘oops’.

“Well, you know now! Of course you can invite some of your friends too, as long as they make a contribution to the food and drinks.” Percy said.

“Why do I have to be Santa?” Jason said. Percy shrugged.

“Everyone has been Santa at some point! You haven’t.” Jason sighed heavily again. He wasn’t sure this was going to end well, but agreed.

After the careful assigning of the Christmas roles, Percy announced that they could finally start decorating. They sprayed the walls and windows with snow spray, hung garlands and put random paper decorations everywhere. Jason wondered why they had so many decorations to begin with. In the end, box number 2 was emptied entirely all over the house. The first box containing the actual Christmas tree ornaments stood by the table, but only until tomorrow when Leo would go and hunt down the best tree.

Jason looked over at Nico’s door and wondered if he joined the party whom would he dress as? Maybe an elf, like Leo. He smiled at himself and carefully tacked a star on the storage room door.

 

 

 

 

 

The morning of the 20th of December, Jason slipped a note under Nico’s door. He hadn’t heard from the boy in a couple of days and he had yet to ask him if he would join the Christmas Party. He wanted to remain positive about it, despite Nico’s tendency to avoid everyone. When he returned from shopping Christmas presents for everyone, he found the reply under his door.

 

 

Will you join us for the Christmas party?

_I don’t like parties._

 

Jason smiled reading the note. Just as expected, he thought.

 

 

 

It was almost 7 PM when Percy called out for Jason. Reluctantly, Jason came out of the room wearing the Santa Claus costume over his jeans and shirt. It was a little small, but thankfully there wasn’t a big height difference between him and Percy. Jason was certain that everyone would laugh the moment he stepped into the living room. Instead he was the one bursting into laughter when he saw Percy all green in the face and arms. That idiot dressed as the Grinch.

“Told you.” Annabeth, who was sitting next to him said.

“It’s not bad, right?” Percy asked. “I mean, look at this costume! Much better than a Yeti!” He admired his own costume.

“You look great!” Jason agreed.

Annabeth shook her head, but she was dressed as Cindy Lou Who which only meant she agreed to everything from the start. Jason wondered how Percy convinced her.

When the guests started arriving Jason was surprised that everyone dressed up as someone. Even Piper arrived dressed as what seemed to be a Christmas tree. Her dark green dress was decorated with ornaments and she had a wreath on her head. She was followed by Frank and Hazel, and later his sister, Thalia. At first, Jason wasn’t sure if he should invite her, but both Leo and Percy claimed it will be fun especially for the Secret Santa exchange. Jason couldn’t argue with that and hoped she wouldn’t draw his name from the lot. She always got him ridiculous presents for holidays and his birthday. He didn’t need one more.

“Baby bro!” She greeted him and threw an arm around him. “Merry early Christmas!” Her voice was always loud.

“Merry Christmas, Thalia.” He said mildly embarrassed. This was the first time Thalia was visiting the flat. Jason had given her the address a few weeks after moving in, but to his surprise she never showed up. She had complained about him not sharing it, but it was Jason who went to meet her every other weekend.

“Show me everything!” She said eagerly. Jason laughed watching that crazy glint in her eye and hoped that they would get along with Percy. They had very similar personalities. He sighed and pulled her to introduce her to everyone.

 

A couple of hours later most of the food cooked or brought over was consumed. Jason stared at the pile of dirty dishes in the sink and sighed to himself. That would all be his cleaning up to do, he half-cried. Carefully he peaked in the oven to check the leftovers while the rest played a game. Nico didn’t want to join this gathering, Jason thought, but he hoped he wouldn’t refuse Leo’s tasty food or Piper’s store bought pudding. It was delicious, after all. He smiled to himself as he put a generous amount of meat and potatoes on a plate, he grabbed some pudding and the half-consumed bag of chips and headed to Nico’s room quietly.

He knocked carefully and was sure he heard a faint reply over the music before he pushed the door open with his foot. He smiled at the sight before him. Nico was wearing the large sweater he lent him weeks ago when he was sick, the sleeves rolled up.

“Why are the lights off?” Jason questioned as several candles lit the room. He looked at the boy sitting on the bed, reading a book. Nico shrugged.

“No reason.” He said. Jason raised an eyebrow. Maybe he was used to the small light from the candles.

“You want us to think you’re not here?” He asked. Nico looked up and closed his book. Jason took a step and sat on the other end of the mattress. “I thought you might want to eat some. Leo cooked and Hazel brought these awesome oven potatoes…” Nico stared at the full plate Jason put on the bed between them.

“Au gratin.” He mused.

“You like them?” Jason smiled. Nico nodded. “Piper brought the dessert and I sneaked away the chips.” He felt pretty triumphant over his collection. He took the fork out from his pocket. “Here, you should eat.” Nico blinked a couple of times, surprised.

“You didn’t have to steal food.” He said.

“Let me live on the wild side.” Jason said. The younger scoffed. Or maybe he laughed. Jason couldn’t tell.

Nico took the fork and picked up the plate. He smelled it for a moment, before attacking it with the fork.

“What were you reading?” Jason asked and picked up the book Nico left on the side. The cover was grey with a black and white picture of a large tree trunk.

“Taking up Runes…” Jason read quietly and paused. _Runes…_ ‘A complete guide to using runes in spells, rituals, divination and magic,’ he continued in his head and, for a moment, he was confused. He turned to Nico, who stared at him frozen; a bite still in his mouth. “Sounds difficult.” He said. Nico blinked. He dropped his fork on the plate and grabbed the book from Jason’s hands.

“Who said you could peak, Grace.” He spat.

“I was just curious… Sorry.” Jason apologized. He didn’t want to upset him and the look on Nico’s face looked dangerous. “Why are you learning runes?” He asked.

“None of your business.” Nico said and resumed eating. Jason nodded.

“Of course.” He looked around at the pile of books Nico always kept next to his bed. He noticed several titles like the one he just read.

Wicca, a guide for the solitary practitioner.

Tarot Bible.

Meditation Bible.

Candle Spells.

 

Jason examined the candles burning and wondered if that’s the reason he liked them, rather than their scent. Perhaps there was another meaning that Jason couldn’t understand. He got up to his feet, feeling curious. It definitely wasn’t a good time to ask Nico about it. He decided to leave him alone for now. He wasn’t going anywhere for the holidays, anyway.

“I’ll let you enjoy your food,” he said. Nico looked up at him. “I’ll be here for most of the holidays, so don’t be a stranger, OK?” He added before opening the door a little and slipping out as quietly as when he arrived.

 

 

 

On the 23rd of December, Jason was finally sitting in the quiet living room alone. He managed to clean everything during the weekend, right after Percy left and now he had absolutely nothing to do. Even, Piper was flying to LA to visit her father. _At least, I’ll be spending Christmas with Thalia,_ he thought. It had been years since the last time his sister went home for any holiday. She didn’t even go to Jason’s high school graduation. Instead, she had Skyped with him in the evening to give her congratulations. Jason didn’t blame her. Thalia and their father never got along. Both were very absolute in their beliefs and unlike Jason, who did everything ‘right’ according to his father’s wishes, Thalia found every excuse to defy him. That included running off as far away as possible.

Jason sank low on the green couch, wrapped in his fleece blanket and watched the silly television show that was on. It was past 2 in the afternoon when the bell rang so suddenly that he jumped up from his lethargic state. He muted the TV and answered the door. A mailman climbed up the stairs holding a package.

“Mr. di Angelo?” The young man inquired. It was strange to see a delivery for Nico.

“He’s not in right now. I’m his flat mate.” He replied.

“Right. Can you sign for it?” The guy asked clearly wanting to drop it off and not return. Jason stared at the medium sized generic brown box under his arm. He nodded. “Great.” He passed Jason the clipboard and indicated the right place to sign it, then took it back and passed him the box. “Thank you very much!”

Jason closed the door behind him and examined the package as he returned to the couch. It wasn’t too heavy or too light. And it wasn’t possible to guess where it was from. The sender’s address was as mysterious as its recipient. Jason decided to forget about it and put the box on the coffee table in front of him before resuming the show he was watching.

Ten minutes later, he turned down the volume of the TV again. He felt like the package was staring back at him. He frowned. No one had any package deliveries and suddenly there’s a signed one and it was for Nico? Jason picked it up and weighed it in his hands once more. Then he shook it a little and listened. He wasn’t surprised when something moved around, but the sound was muffled. Bubble wrap, probably. _When did I become so curious?_ He was never curious about letters and packages that arrived back home, but it felt nearly incurable the past couple of months. He turned the package around in his hands carefully. The contents shifted a little. It was just an average brown package.

He sighed defeated and put it further away on the kitchen table.

 

 

Nico returned home a couple of hours later. He was clinging onto his aviator’s jacket and was carrying a bag. His eyebrows narrowed for a moment when he saw Jason slouching on the couch eating chips by the handful. Jason sat up when he saw him, brushing his hands together in an attempt to get rid of the crumbs and salt.

“Welcome back.” He said. Nico closed the door after a pause.

“Hi.” He replied. A suspicious look on his face.

“Are you working all through the holidays?” Jason asked. He wondered if Nico had any holidays.

“It’s a busy season.” Nico walked to his room. Jason wished he wouldn’t close the door behind him since it was just the two of them in the flat.

“Something came for you in the mail earlier! Were you expecting anything?” Jason said a little louder once Nico was in his room. He had not forgotten about the mysterious package on the kitchen table.

He heard Nico mumble something frustrated and then a thud. He reappeared a moment later. “Yes. Thank you.” He said. Jason pointed at the delivery. “I asked them to deliver it specific hours, but they never listen.” He complained and grabbed the package before returning to his door. This time closing the door behind him.

Jason waited. One beat, two beats, three beats. On the fourth he knocked on Nico’s door. There was a vague answer, so he popped his head inside. Nico was sitting on his mattress. He was halfway opening the package when he looked up in question. He didn’t stop unwrapping the brown paper around it.

“Aren’t you cold?” Jason asked distracted when he saw him in nothing but a black t-shirt. Maybe he was next to the heater, but it was still December. This wasn’t even what he was planning to say.

“Everything feels warm when you first come in.” Nico explained. Jason couldn’t argue with that, but he wished he would take better care and not get sick again.

“You’re right. But wear a sweater or something.” Jason said. Nico gave him a small nod and stared.

“Can I help you with something?” He asked. Involuntarily, Jason looked down at the pentagram on Nico’s shirt and then the package in his hands. Nico stopped pulling at the paper and just looked at Jason.

“Ah, I was wondering if you wanted to eat something. I mean, we could order something, or cook something… whatever.” He smiled.

Nico raised his eyebrows. “Right…” He didn’t sound convinced. “Whatever is fine.” Nico looked back down and resumed opening the box.

Jason paused, mostly because he forgot himself while looking at it as well. Nico chuckled.

“Are you _that_ curious?” Nico asked.

“Huh? No! It’s not that.” Jason fidgeted and leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms in defense. “‘Whatever’ isn’t an answer! Isn’t there something you want to eat?” He cleared his throat.

“I like burgers.” Nico said, now undoing the bubble wrap. Jason recalled Nico saying his favorite food was McDonald’s.

“Burgers sound great!” He said. Nico stared at him, a smirk creeping up his face. It was a strange expression. Jason wasn’t used to it, or his laugh for that matter.

“Aren’t you overly enthusiastic about someone else’s delivery?”

“I’m not!” Jason said flustered. “So, what should I get?”

“Cheeseburger, fries, the usual…” Nico paused. “And it’s just candles, since you’re wondering.”

“I’m not!” He lied. “Should I get you two? One cheeseburger doesn’t sound enough.”

“It’s en… fine, get two.” Nico said reluctantly.

“Alright!” Jason chanted and left closing the door behind him.

He was planning to order, but since Nico liked McDonald’s specifically he decided to go to the nearest one. On his way and while he was waiting for the order and walking back, Jason only thought about Nico ordering candles and what he was planning to do. Maybe he finished reading that book on Candles and wanted to try something out. He shook his head at the image of Nico using a candle and saying a spell. First it was teleporting, now spells. It was ridiculous.

Nico was waiting for him on the couch, his legs crossed. He was eating the rest of the chips casually. Jason didn’t expect to find him there. He held up the McDonald’s paper bag.

“Food is here.” He announced. Nico’s face brightened.

“I wondered where you disappeared off to.” He finished the bag of chips and set it on the table.

“Aren’t you, usually, the one who disappears?” Jason laughed. Nico looked at him confused. Maybe he wasn’t aware of his ninja skill to sneak in and out of the flat, Jason thought. “No one usually hears you leave or return. That’s why.” Jason added when Nico didn’t say anything.

“Oh. Is that so?” Nico said.

Jason sat next to him and pulled the food out of the bag. “You told me in a note once that you like McDonald’s the best. I thought, it’s not very far. I might as well get that.” He passed him a burger. Nico scoffed.

“You’re weird.” Nico stated quietly.

They ate mostly in silence as the television continued playing an afternoon talk show. Jason wasn’t paying much attention to what the host and guests were saying. Instead, he kept glancing sideways to look at Nico curiously as he ate his food, fast. Several times he wanted to tell him to slow down before he chokes on the food, but the younger seemed unfazed. When he finished, Nico sat up. He stretched and turned to Jason.

“Thanks for the food.” He said. Jason stared at Nico’s almost smile. “Here. You can have this.” He held out a candle.

“What’s this for?” Jason asked and took the candle.

“You have exams soon, right?” It wasn’t really a question. “Brown candles are good for studying and increasing concentration. It will help you.”

“I see.” Jason examined the brown candle. It wasn’t any bigger than a deodorant spray. “Do you really believe it will help? I could use help in some of the lessons.” It wasn’t a lie, but he wasn’t fully serious about it, either.

“Of course.” Nico sounded 100% sure. “But if you don’t believe it, then it won’t work. Probably.”

“Then, I guess I have to believe it.” Jason held up the candle, then paused. “How do I…”

“You can just burn it while you study, I suppose.” Nico said.

“Thanks. Have you given any to Percy and Leo?” Jason asked. Nico shook his head.

“No. They… find these things weird. They’ll just laugh or something.” Nico hung his head, his voice bitter. Then his expression changed again and he looked straight in Jason’s eyes. “It’s fine not to believe it will work. You can still have it. It smells nice.” He said dismissively, turned on his heel and marched back to his room.

The door shut a moment later.

Jason examined the candle again. Perhaps Percy and Leo already knew that Nico liked this sort of thing. Wicca and spells and candles and runes. He hoped neither of his flat mates had been insensitive about it, but he knew Percy tended to make all his decisions based on first impressions. He sighed. They probably did something stupid in the past. It was probably the reason why Nico avoided everyone in the flat. Jason got up, cleaned up the mess from the wrappers and returned to his room. He placed the candle on his desk, next to the pencil case, so he would not forget about it when he started studying for midterms.

The mere thought of exams made him panic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jason logged in on his university account. He crossed his fingers and hoped for good grades. After Piper’s advice he had decided to drop whatever class didn’t go as planned in order to pick up something else. He could feel his palms get more sweaty by the second. He glanced at the small dark green candle Nico gave him after the exams.

 

_“For good luck and success.” He told him as he placed the candle on Jason’s desk, while he studied for the last midterm._

_“I definitely need this!” Jason smiled._

 

Jason recalled how difficult it was to get Nico out of his room in the first days of Christmas holidays. The teenager would slip out for work and return, but Jason was always waiting for him with a movie to watch or dinner. Nico couldn’t refuse. Jason didn’t let him. At first, he literally pushed him to sit on the couch until it was past 12 AM and they watched the entire Star Wars trilogy. At the end, Nico said he didn’t dislike it, but ‘it was ridiculous’. Jason started picking movies that would interest him. Most of them were fantasy and full of magic and witches or warlocks.

 

_“Do you believe in magic?” Nico asked him one night as they lay on the couch. Jason shifted a little. He had yet to ask him about it._

_“I suppose it depends.” He said. “It doesn’t mean that I don’t believe either. You?” He glanced at Nico, his face serious._

_“I do.” Nico said, but his voice was bitter again. “I like to believe that things we can’t see, or understand exist.”_

_“Like God and other religions?” Jason asked._

_“Something like that. Isn’t it better when you know you’re part of something… bigger.”_

_Jason stared at him. He wasn’t sure what to say. This wasn’t about magic, or anything weird and mysterious. This was about belonging. This was what made Nico feel included. Jason didn’t realize he was holding his breath._

_He exhaled. “Yes. It makes things easier, doesn’t it?” It was different for Jason. His ‘part of something bigger’ was definitely different, but he understood partially what Nico meant. Percy and Leo, on the other hand, missed on that and judged it. Nico wasn’t that different from any of them. He felt the urge to call Percy up and ask him what happened and tell him off because Nico only wanted one thing, but at the same time… he didn’t want to say a word to them._

_“It does. In Wicca, everything is balanced, you know.” He mumbled and stared at the TV. The movie kept playing, but Jason had stopped paying attention a long time ago. He wanted to hear Nico out. “It’s not something bad.” His voice was even smaller._

_“It’s not.” Jason confirmed. He didn’t want Nico to run away like he always used to. Nico turned to him, surprised. “It’s not something bad. Maybe… it’s just hard to explain it to others.”_

_Nico nodded. “I work in a shop like that, too. So I didn’t tell Percy and Leo. They would laugh again.” He scoffed._

_“You know better.” Jason said. “How is it? I’m curious. The shop.”_

_Nico went into great length to describe the shop and its collection of books and artifacts. How tourists came inside and often left completely weirded out and how others, often not people who weren’t involved with Wicca or witchcraft of any sort, came and bought herbs or candles. Sometimes, music CDs for meditation. Jason sat next to him and listened quietly, mildly fascinated by the way Nico spoke about it. It was the first time he saw him like that._

 

After that, Nico didn’t hide in his room straight after returning from work. He stayed in the living room with Jason, chatting and once, even brewed a tea with herbs from the shop. Jason found it extremely bitter, but one moment he was stressing out and the next he was calm and relaxed, so he didn’t complain. Two weeks after the Christmas party, Leo and Percy returned to the flat. Jason sighed, frustrated as Nico returned to his habit of hiding in his room. He had hoped Nico would be willing to hang out with everyone.

 

The green candle burned filling the room with its freshly cut grass smell. Jason narrowed his eyebrows and held his breath as he clicked on the page with his exam results. Quickly he scanned the list of lessons and traced a finger across each to see the grades. He exhaled loudly. To his surprise, he didn’t fail any, but he was near enough. He was glad that it was lessons he found boring. He scrolled down to check his credit. Piper would be proud, he thought and texted her his results.

Jason turned off his laptop and went to knock on Nico’s door. He ought to know the news too, he thought. He heard shuffling inside and Nico opened the door slightly. He glanced at the kitchen where Percy was cooking something and looked at him. Jason looked back at Percy who raised his eyebrows before returning to his food. Nico sighed and pulled him inside.

“I checked the results!” Jason said excited.

“What results?” Nico looked at him confused. He moved inside and fell on his mattress.

“Seriously? The midterms!” Jason smiled widely. “Anyway, I actually passed everything! How about that?” Jason sat at the other end of the mattress as well. He always seemed to sit there. It was his stop. Even when, once, he brought his laptop over to Nico’s room to watch a movie late at night, Jason still sat at the same spot. It was cozy area now with the halogen heater and the warm blanket.

“Well, you won’t say anything?” Jason asked when Nico kept looking at him. His hair was all over the place.

“Right. Congratulations?” He didn’t sound certain. Jason laughed.

“That’s right! I might not have gotten straight A’s, but I’m sure the candle helped me concentrate enough and not fail.” He said. Nico smiled a little.

“That’s good.” He agreed. “Are you still planning to drop classes?” He asked.

“I think it’s time to try a couple new ones.” Nico nodded. Jason remembered how Nico was 17 years old and he should be in school too. He never got the chance to ask him. Nico seemed to prefer to talk about Jason rather than himself.

“I know you’re working, but… I always wanted to ask…” Jason started carefully. He didn’t want to say anything weird. “Have you finished high school?” He asked.

Nico stared at his feet folded in front of him.

“And so you asked.” Nico muttered under his breath. “No. I haven’t. I sort of dropped out while I was a sophomore.” He kept staring at his feet. Jason was sure that there must have been a reason why. Maybe it was the same reason as to why he was alone.

 

“You do what works for you, I guess.” Jason said putting a hand on Nico’s shoulder. He pulled him close just a bit as he leaned in. “Now… how about some ice cream!?” Nico’s eyes grew wide in surprise. He blinked.

“It’s January.” He simply said.

“Nico di Angelo. We eat ice cream all year around in this house!” Jason said and got to his feet, pulling the younger with him. “You better think hard about what flavors you like.”

Nico furrowed his eyebrows. “I think I like most of them?” He said questioningly. “It’s been a while since I had ice cream…”

Jason half-sighed and half-grunted in frustration. “Then I guess we need to go and fix that.” He opened the door. “Go on, get ready. We leave in five!” Jason urged him and closed the door behind him.

He smiled and looked around. Percy stared at him from the kitchen. Embarrassed, Jason nodded and quickly returned to his room. It was strange that he was the only one to get along with Nico. Percy and Leo asked him if he was under a spell, when they returned. Jason decided to laugh it off, because that was as ridiculous as Nico teleporting. He just told them that he was a pretty cool guy and they were stupid to avoid him. Percy stared in his ‘I don’t understand’ way. Neither believed him, but Jason hoped that would change.


	5. About You

Jason sat across Piper. She was already sipping her hot chocolate when Jason arrived at the cafeteria after class. She tapped on her imaginary watch to tell him that he was late. Jason winced, grabbed a drink and joined her at the table by the window.

 

“So, Sparky, why are you so late? Did the teacher hold you back after class?” She teased.

“Shut up.” He groaned. “He was late again and we stayed longer to make up for those 15 minutes.”

“I hate it when they do that.” Piper made a face. “You should have texted me!”

“ Yeah, sorry. It slipped my mind. How was your class?”

“Frustrating, without you for company, but I’m managing.” She said and pushed her long brown hair behind her ear. The small braids on each side flipped back immediately.

“Isn’t it called Introduction to Management?” Jason laughed. Piper hit him on the head, but laughed as well.

Since the spring semester started Jason picked several different classes and ended up having only a couple of lessons in common with her. She bugged him for days about it, but didn’t hold it against him. They still hung out nearly every day on campus.

“So, are we going to that movie on Saturday?” Her eyes shined in that weird combination of blue and green and brown. It was always peculiar to look at her straight in the eye. Jason was convinced that if you stared too long, you would be hypnotized.

“Wait. This Saturday?” He asked.

“Did you forget?” She stared him down.

“Um, no. I just… I forgot I already promised Nico to hang out.” He looked at her apologetically and mouthed a ‘sorry’.

“Oooooh, Nico again, huh?” Piper raised an eyebrow, suspicious. “What’s the deal? You keep hanging out so much lately. I still remember when we met and you said he was like a ghost. Yet you keep mentioning him.”

“He just keeps to himself, but he’s a great guy. I mean, it’s fun to hang out.” Jason said quickly.

“Didn’t you say he was 16?” Piper asked.

“17. He turned 18 two weeks ago, actually. He just didn’t say it was his birthday, but I was hoping to get him a cake or something.” He laughed, feeling self-conscious at the way Piper stared at him and sipped her drink. “Wh-what?”

“I don’t know, ever since he got sick and you helped him, you guys have been close. It’s kind of cute.” She said with a smirk. Jason wasn’t sure what she meant. They were friends and he did feel a little overprotective over the younger, but was that something to call ‘cute’?

“Is it that weird to be friends?” He asked confused. “I’m friends with Percy and Leo, too.”

“No, of course not, but they still aren’t friends with him, right?”

“Percy and Leo? No, Nico doesn’t really hang out if we’re all in the living room. Even if he does want to watch a movie or play a game.” He sighed. “It’s a pity, but he’s not comfortable around Percy and Leo.”

“Do you have a secret wish to compete with everyone in video games, Sparky?” Piper laughed.

“It’s not that!” Jason argued. “I think it would be interesting to hang out all together. He’s not weird or as antisocial as they think. They just… judged him too fast.”

Piper hummed under her breath. “The candles and such, huh?” She nodded. “I read up on that actually.”

“What do you mean?” Jason asked confused. Piper did research on Wicca and didn’t tell him?

“There are tons of books and pages about it, Jason.” She said. “It was quite interesting.”

 

Jason never told Piper how much Nico told him over Christmas. Sometimes, as they watched a movie full of witchcraft, Nico would explain how this or that thing worked and how it wasn’t really how it appeared. He had even given him some incense sticks that smelled like lavender and told him that they would help him sleep better. Now he had a vanilla scented candle in his room, like the ones Nico likes to use. About a week ago, Jason saw some weird symbols on a paper. Nico went on a lengthy explanation about runes and how they are used. He couldn’t recall half of it, which only made him feel guilty. He was happy that Nico talked excitedly about everything that he shared. Jason shook his head.

“What were you thinking?” Piper asked.

“Nothing. I just… spaced out for a moment. What were you saying?” He spaced out a lot when he thought about Nico, it seemed.

“I was saying how I picked a random book on Wicca and read about things like the meaning of colors and it had a section on candles, like the one Nico gave you. He must really be into it. It’s hard to remember all these things.”

“You have no idea.” Jason chuckled.

“Hey, can I meet him?” she asked. Jason nearly spat out his coffee. “I’m curious.” She admitted.

“I can understand that, but I’m not sure he will be up for it.” Jason preferred to be cautious about this.

“Are you saying I’m not charming?” She pretended to be offended.

“No, by all means. I’ll ask him.”

“How about I just show up? It will be a surprise and I’m sure that I can manage one of the games you guys will play all night anyway!” Piper could be really pushy sometimes, Jason thought. But even if he told her no, chances are that she would really show up on her own to ‘hang out’.

“Yeah, okay, you can come.” Piper whispered a ‘yes!’ of success. “But if it’s weird or not comfortable, you’ll have to go.” She made a sad face.

“Just kidding.” She smiled. “I understand. It’s supposed to be a surprise for his birthday. I get it.”

 

 

 

 

Jason wasn’t sure about this plan. Piper had agreed to pick up the cake on her way to the flat, but Jason still hadn’t managed to say anything to Nico. He hoped that he wouldn’t react badly. Luckily enough, Percy was staying over at Annabeth’s and Leo was too busy trying to, probably, invent the next best thing in the whole world.

He knocked on Nico’s door.

“Come in.” Nico’s voice echoed. Since Jason was the only person to ever knock on his door, Nico didn’t bother to open the door anymore. Jason walked in and found Nico lying flat on his stomach on the mattress with a book in front of him. A candle was lit next to him filling the room with vanilla scent. It was Jason’s guilty pleasure, to hang out in Nico’s room. It was like a secret hideout. (And there was magic too, he thought).

“You seem to be in a good mood.” Nico said when Jason sat down next to him on the mattress, pushing him towards the wall so he can fit.

“Can’t I be happy to hang out with my friend after a long day?” He stated the obvious. Nico shifted to his side and closed his book. “How was work?”

“The usual? Saturdays’ are always a little more busy.” He sighed and pulled himself to a sitting position.

“You know… I need to come over to that place soon! You keep talking about what a cool place it is, too.” Jason complained.

“You… really want to come?” Nico asked. He seemed to think that Jason didn’t mean it.

“Why not?” Jason argued.

“I don’t know…” Nico placed the book on top of the pile. His messy hair had gotten longer and swayed to get in his eyes. He pushed them back.

“I’ll come next week. I promise.” Jason smiled. Maybe he would even buy something. Candles, or those herbs for the bitter, but magic tea.

Nico made a weird face. “Alright. Then, I’ll wait for you.” He said cautiously.

It took Jason an hour to get Nico to come out and play Mario Kart with him. Nico kept getting better at it, too and it was funny to hear him groan and complain as they competed for first place.

The doorbell rang as Jason was struck by a blue shell and fell from first place. Nico chuckled and finished the race with Jason following closely. Jason quickly went to open the door, knowing it must be Piper with the cake. Jason quickly took it off her hands as he placed a candle on top and lit it. Jason looked back at Nico on the couch. His mouth hung open a little in surprise as Jason and Piper started singing Happy Birthday to him. Jason set the cake on the table, in front of him.

“Make a wish.” He said watching Nico’s red face look at the cake. Nico nodded and blew on the candle hesitantly. Then, he turned to Jason.

“What is this?” He demanded. “Why would you get a cake?”

Jason laughed and shrugged. “It was your birthday. You deserve, at least, a cake!” Jason explained and tried to contain his laughter. The pale Nico he knew was still red in the face from embarrassment. “Let’s eat it, okay?”

Nico nodded and sat back at the couch, bringing his legs up. Jason ruffled his hair once and went to the kitchen to get spoons.

“This is my friend, Piper, from the university. I think I told you about her before.” Jason said from the kitchen. Piper sat on the armchair.

“I hope you don’t mind me intruding. Jason always talks about you, so I wanted to meet you.” She said and smiled. Nico gave a suspicious look at Jason who returned and sat next to him again. He passed the spoons around.

“He hasn’t said anything bad, don’t worry.” Piper laughed. “Just that you two are good friends.”

“Right. Yeah, I guess.” Nico agreed and took the spoon

“You may do the honors.” Jason told Nico and pointed at the cake.

Nico didn't wait and took a spoonful. It was gone within seconds.

“It’s not a competition, you know.” Jason laughed. Nico bumped his shoulder on him and took another spoonful. Jason followed trying the cake as well. It tasted like heaven.

It took exactly 15 minutes for the cake to disappear entirely. Most was, of course, consumed by Nico who could have eaten the whole thing on his own as Jason understood. He lay back on the couch with a full stomach.

“I think I will beat you now on Mario Kart.” He announced. Nico chuckled.

“You can think that. It won’t happen.” Nico stated.

“Hey, I only came in 6th because of that shell and the doorbell!” Jason protested, but he didn’t care so much about winning today. He wouldn’t lose on purpose either. Not to Nico.

“Can I play too?” Piper asked. She looked at Nico, who had kept to himself or talked to Jason mostly.

“I guess.” Nico shrugged.

“I’ll set it up,” Jason said turning on the console again and bringing the extra remote to Piper. “I hope you know what you’re doing, cause we might crush you!” He warned her. Piper laughed loudly and claimed that she was going to show them what true winning meant.

They stopped playing long after 11 PM, when they were too exhausted from running around in circles and being attacked by green and red shells. Piper wished Nico happy birthday once again before leaving. Nico didn’t speak much with her and mostly addressed Jason during the night, but he didn’t seem to be having a bad time. After they cleaned up in the living room and Nico returned to his room, dragging his feet, Jason asked him if he had fun.

“Yes.” Nico said with a small smile. Jason felt a wave of accomplishment.

 

 

 

 

A week after Nico’s impromptu birthday celebration, Jason decided that he should stop postponing his visit to the shop where Nico worked. The week passed quickly and, before he realized, it was already the weekend again. He groaned frustrated with himself when he woke up at noon on Saturday. Nico left the house around 9 AM to go to work. He tried to remember Nico’s directions to the shop, but they were blurry in his mind. He wasn’t even sure about the name of the shop anymore. Jason sighed and got out of bed wondering if he should call Nico, but decided against it. It would be more fun if he just showed up and surprised him. He smiled to himself picturing the younger’s wide-eyed face. _Perhaps I should Google it_ , he thought and started getting ready.

 

 

Jason stopped in front of the old shop. The door was made of old, dark brown wood and glass. On the display to the side he could see tarot cards and candles and dream catchers hanging from the ceiling. It was exactly like he pictured it, the voice in his head agreed. Or Nico did a very good job in describing it. He pushed the door open and looked around. The interior was just as impressive as the display window. With a quick look around, Jason saw a book corner, more candles and jewelry. At the far end of the shop, by the counter, sat the person he was looking for. Nico looked up the moment he heard the door creak. He stared dumbfounded at Jason who paused and smiled at him.

“Surprise!” Jason said and walked closer to the counter. Nico blinked.

“I… you’re here.” Nico stated the obvious. “You’re actually here.” Jason wanted to laugh.

“I promised, but it was a busy week. Sorry.” He apologized. He should have come sooner either way.

“You just didn’t say anything.” Nico said.

“Then it wouldn’t be a surprise. Your expression was priceless, by the way.” Jason chuckled. He looked around the small shop again. “Will you give me the tour?” Nico nodded.

Jason followed Nico around as he walked around the shop, the wooden old floor creaking under their weight in places, and explained what everything was. The were shelves upon shelves with various candles, gemstones and runes. Nico explained that runes were often used to tell ones future. When Jason asked if they were like tarot cards, Nico explained that they were different, but rune cards or stones could be used for many things other than divination. Jason laughed and joked about asking about the future. Nico only replied with a quiet ‘alright’ and continued to the dried herbs drawers and the book section. He noticed several of the books Nico had stacked next to his bed. Some of them were big leather bound books that seemed really old and others were small ‘guides’ for different practices. He hoped Nico didn’t have a goal to buy them all. His room was too small to fit everything. Amused at the mental image he turned to the big glass casing in the middle of the shop. Safe under the glass were a dozen cups, chalices as Nico called them, and daggers. Athames were ceremonial only, Nico noted. The design and detail in some of these objects was extraordinary. Jason spotted one that he was sure Piper would love.

“Is it safe for people to buy these?” He asked as he examined them closer.

“Yes, but it’s rare for people to buy them. They are expensive and it’s the beginners who choose simplicity at first.” Nico explained.

“Do you have one?” He looked at him, curious.

“No.” Nico didn’t sound very happy about it. “I never really needed one, but they are nice, aren’t they?”

“Yes, they are.” Jason agreed. “What else do you have?” He asked.

“Just… a few things. Mostly the candles and incense over there.” He pointed next to the candles at the incense sticks. Nico shifted on his other foot.

“Hey, tell me which was that tea you made the other time. Back in the holidays, I mean. It was really good.” Jason smiled. Nico’s face lit up.

“You want to get some?” He asked. Jason nodded.

“Of course. Unless you suggest something else.”

“It depends on what you want. That tea was to relax from stress.” Nico said and walked to the drawers. He picked a small brown bag and started adding a mix of dried herbs Jason was sure had weird names on purpose. He watched him as he slowly finished and folded the bag.

“Anything else?” Nico asked. Jason shook his head.

“I think I’m good. Thanks.” He replied.

Jason paid for his purchase and left the shop soon after. Somehow he was there for an hour as Nico showed him around and explained various things. In the end, he gave in to hunger and returned to the flat for lunch. He picked up the forgotten mail downstairs and went through it. A bill, a bank statement for Percy, some spam, and… to his surprise a letter for Nico. There was no sender’s name or address, but this time he figured he shouldn’t pry and placed the letter on top of Nico’s blanket. For once, it didn’t feel weird to open the door when the boy was absent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was nearly the end of February, when Jason found another letter for Nico in the mail. It was the exact same white envelope. A little more rigid than the usual ones. It didn’t seem to have more than one page inside. Unconsciously, he stared at Nico’s name printed on the front. He stuffed his own letters in his bag and climbed the stairs. He was positive that Nico would be home, but when he passed the letter to Nico, the boy simply tossed it aside. It dropped behind the pile of books and when Jason asked, Nico complained that it was nothing important. ‘Just spam’ mail. Jason wasn’t convinced. No one keeps sending letters these days unless it’s important. He decided not to ask again since Nico had a strange temper. He didn’t want to make things uncomfortable after they managed to get this close. A week ago, Nico knocked on Jason’s door for the first time. He held up a DVD, some movie around the occult. Jason couldn’t help it. He couldn’t say no, even if the movie seemed like a silly thriller. They sat on his bed and watched the movie until it was two in the morning.

“I’m so tired.” Jason complained when the movie ended. He yawned widely.

“Really?” Nico asked. “I brought these too…” He said quietly and pulled something from his pocket.

“Is that what I think it is?” Jason asked leaning closer to look at the deck of cards. It was tarot cards, just like he thought. “Are you going to tell me my future?” He laughed.

“I can try.” Nico said.

“Alright. I need to think about my question, right?” Jason said and closed his eyes in concentration.

“Yes.” Jason could hear Nico shuffling the cards as he thought hard of his question. He had too many, but his biggest concern was still his studies. His father kept pressuring him about choosing a major that would suit a future lawyer. He didn’t want to be a lawyer. Jason knew that much. Instead… he wanted to know if things would simply be okay. “Done?” Nico asked softly. Jason nodded and opened his eyes.

Nico spread the cards on the bed between them. “You should pick 6 cards.” He said. “Don’t look at them.” Jason nodded and ran his hand over the cards. The backs were a deep purple. He thought about his question again and when he felt a ‘pull’ he picked a card. He didn’t even know if his urge to choose certain cards was real or his mind made it up.

Nico took the rest of the cards and set them aside. Then he took Jason’s and started placing them on the bed, his expression blank.

“The first card… The Hermit. It’s about how you feel about yourself now.” Nico said. “I guess you’re lonely. You’re thinking a lot and trying to find answers, but don’t worry. You will get your answers.”

“That’s a relief.” Jason said impressed at the accuracy.

“The second card is what you want the most at this moment. This is the Hierophant.” Nico continued. “It suggests that you want to have someone around that you can trust and confide in. Someone who won’t let you down.” Nico frowned. “I think there were other things, like asking advice and counsel from wiser people. Does that sound right?”

Jason shook his head. “Not if it means my parents.”

“I think it can be anyone you look up to.” Nico explained.

Jason thought of Thalia. Perhaps, he should talk with her. She was always the example rebel of the family, but in the end, she’s happy doing something she loves.

“The third card is your fears.” Jason looked at the card, confused. “It’s the Star. It means you’re afraid of the future. You’re afraid that your hopes will be crushed. This is a good card, Jason. You should just be open to new things.” Nico smiled.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Jason smiled back.

“The Empress. Well, it’s getting better.” Nico said. “It means that you are going to be very happy. It’s about creativity and artistic things as well. I think the cards are telling you to just stop worrying and enjoy yourself.” Nico said.

“Stop worrying.” He laughed. “I shall do my best.

“Two more.” Nico said and flipped the next one. “Temperance is… your life will be a little hectic and challenging. I guess be careful if you have a rival and, guess what?”

“Stop worrying?” Jason asked.

“Calmness and patience, my friend.” Nico said. “I think this must be the first time I actually get consistency in a reading.” He turned the last card. “This is the outcome. The Tower.” Nico frowned for a second time.

“What is it?” Jason asked worried.

“It means that there will be a period of big dramatic change in your life. But there will also be a new beginning. Maybe there will be disappointment, but in the end there will be new possibilities and things will work out. Just maybe not in the way you thought.”

Jason stared at the cards on the bed. He sighed. Is this what a tarot card reading was like? He wondered. The cards did speak the truth. And this last one, the Tower, apparently said that things will be worse before they get better. Maybe it meant that he wasn’t going to choose what he’s expecting as his major. Either way, he didn’t think his family would like it.

“Are you okay?” Nico asked. “You don’t have to take them too literally, you know.” He hurried to say. “You have that crease on your forehead again.” Jason looked up.

“Crease?”

“From worrying too much!” He exclaimed and showed the cards. “But, seriously, you don’t have to take the card meanings literally. It’s not about right or wrong.” Nico said.

Nico returned to the storage room at nearly 4 AM. Jason lay on his bed for a while thinking about the cards and what Nico told him. The cards were pretty accurate and he didn’t expect it. After all, he never believed in this sort of thing. It was time to reconsider, he thought.

 

 

 

 

Jason hoped when March started the weather would get warmer. Even if it was just a little bit. It turned out that there was virtually no change at all. Nevertheless, Jason arranged to meet with Piper and some other classmates to watch a movie. The truth was that he wanted to talk to her about the tarot reading Nico did for him a couple of weeks ago. For some reason, he had yet to tell her and Thalia was busy with work, making it impossible to talk with someone and ask advice.

He sat in the living room all morning watching cartoons and eating snacks when Leo emerged from his room and announced that he was going to bed. Jason asked him why he would sleep at nearly 2 PM, which earned him a ‘you’ll know one day’ look. He raised his eyebrows and said good night as his flatmate retreated to his bedroom once again.

Half an hour later, the doorbell rang. It was the front door. Jason got up, suspicious and answered the door. A tall, middle-aged man stood in front of him. His hair were brown with bits of white and his gaze was intense as he looked at Jason. He felt scanned from head to toe.

 

“Can I help you?” Jason asked.

“I’m here to see Nico di Angelo.” The man’s voice was husky and deep. There were dark circles under his eyes from tiredness. Jason wondered what would a grown man want from Nico. “It’s very important that I speak with him.” The man continued.

“He’s not here right now.” Jason informed. “He’s at work. You could come back later if it’s important.” The man hung his head and sighed.

“Still elusive.” He said under his breath. “Please, he’s supposed to check in with me. I’m his assigned social caseworker. My name is Chiron.”

Jason froze up for a moment. He was a social worker. Jason tried to think of a time when Nico mentioned something about his family, but there was nothing. He never mentioned his parents or any relative. Jason always wondered about it. Nico was so independent that it was easy to forget that he was a teenager living on his own. The man in front of him showed him his ID confirming that he was a social worker from foster care.

“He should be back within the hour.” Jason said. “You can wait for him, if you need to.”

The man’s face relaxed. “That would be perfect. Thank you.” He said and followed Jason in the flat.

“Are you a new roommate?” Chiron asked, sitting down on the couch. Jason poured him some water and sat on the chair across.

“Yes. I moved here in August.” It felt like a really long time ago. So many things had happened. “My name’s Jason.”

“I see. I’m afraid Nico doesn’t speak much about his flat mates and he didn’t inform me there was a new resident.” He said and gulped down the water. “Thank you for the water.”

Jason smiled at him. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. It didn’t seem to be the first time Chiron came to the house.

“How is Nico doing? His 18th birthday was a month ago.” Chiron said.

Jason thought about the notes he exchanged with Nico and how he took care of him when he got sick. He could only say that things escalated after that. They hung out together every day during the winter holidays and Jason knew that Nico didn’t just say to anyone where he worked or what sort of things he liked. That hadn’t gone well with the rest of the flat mates.

“He’s doing alright.” He contemplated. “I mean, it took a while to meet him, but we’re friends now.” He would definitely call Nico a friend and hoped the younger would do the same if asked. Chiron stared in surprise. He raised an eyebrow.

“You must be the first.” He said chuckling. “I’m relieved. For someone to say they’re his friend… Nico is very introverted and independent.” Jason nodded in agreement.

“Yes, but we get along. Sometimes watch a movie or play a video game.” He said. He wondered if it was a lie. Nico didn’t hang out with everyone. He didn’t watch a movie with Percy and Leo. “Well, he doesn’t feel comfortable with group activities, I guess…” He said out loud.

Chiron chuckled again. “It’s still a big step for him, I’m sure. I know him since he was 12 years old, you know. Always a difficult case.” He shook his head, probably in despair.

Jason felt his body tense. This man knew Nico for six years already. That only meant that Nico has been on his own all this time. Jason thought of a million reasons why that would be and why a little Nico would need to be in the care of child protection services. He frowned.

“That’s a long time.” He commented in the end.

“Yes. He’s had rather unfortunate teenage years.” Chiron continued. “Had the habit of running and pushing people away.”

“He ran away?” Jason asked. Chiron nodded slowly.

“More than once. Especially after we put him with a family.”

You didn’t often hear about the good cases of foster care, so naturally ones idea of it was that the system was terrible. Jason wasn’t sure what to think. Chiron seemed like an alright man and spoke fondly of the boy.

“Nico is special.” He continued. “If you’re his friend, that’s good enough. He needs someone.” Jason couldn’t agree more.

Keys turned as a tired Nico pushed the door open and stood frozen at the entrance. He looked from Jason to Chiron confused for a moment before his eyes filled with anger. Chiron stood up and greeted him.

“What are you doing here?” Nico cut him off before he finished saying ‘hello’. Jason remembered how annoyed Nico was when he bought the space heater. He looked a hundred times worse. “You shouldn’t be here!” Nico almost yelled.

“Nico, please. It’s the last time we’ll see each other.” Chiron said as calmly as possible, his expression sad.

“Jason, why did you let him in!” Nico turned back to the social worker. “You should go.” He walked to his room and banged the door behind him.

Jason looked at Chiron who sighed heavily. “I was hoping this time, he would be happy.” He said quietly.

“I’ll… I’ll try to talk to him.” Jason said. “Give me a minute.”

Chiron thanked him and sat down again as Jason knocked on Nico’s door. There was no reply, but he pushed the door open anyway.

“Nico?” He looked at the mass on the bed. Nico lay flat on his stomach, face in the pillow. He still had his jacket and shoes on. “Are you alright?” He asked cautiously. He obviously wasn’t.

Nico didn’t reply. He just lay there. Jason wondered if he could even breath with a pillow in his face. He knelt next to him and sat at the edge of the bed, pushing his body further in toward the wall. Nico scooted and turned his head to the side. He looked up at Jason. The dim lighting made it impossible to read his expression.

“You shouldn’t have let him in.” Nico mumbled.

“Were those letters that kept coming from him?” Nico looked away. “You should talk to him, Nico. He just wants to see that you’re okay, right?” Jason said. Nico sighed exasperated.

“I don’t want to talk to him. He’s only pestering me.”

“I’m sure that he cares for you.” He didn’t even finish his sentence before Nico scoffed loudly. “He said he knows you since you were 12, are you sure he doesn’t care?” Jason asked.

“He said that?” Nico questioned. His voice stiff with anger. “Did he just go ahead and say why?”

Jason shook his head. “No. He didn’t say why.”

“But he did say something else.” Nico said.

“He said that you kept running away when they put you with a family.”

“It wasn’t my family!” Nico cut him off. He groaned and sat up and pulled his legs against his chest. “Do you think they would really care for someone like me? I didn’t have a family.” He paused. “And I wasn’t wanted anymore…” Nico said quietly. Jason almost had to lean in to hear the words.

“Who didn’t want you?” Jason asked.

“My father. He didn’t want me after mom and Bianca died.”

Jason stayed quiet. Nico’s family passed away and his remaining rejected him. He felt anger rising in his chest. Nico didn’t deserve that. He was just a kid when all this happened.

“He said… it should have been Bianca who lived, not me and he said that he wouldn’t take me in. Do you know what happens to kids who aren’t wanted?” Nico’s eyes filled with tears. He sniffed. Jason’s eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the room, but Nico still seemed to sort of blend in the darkness with his black clothes and hair. He shook his head. Nico wiped his eyes with his sleeve. “They get to go to orphanages and group houses and foster parents who don’t really want them either. Then, why shouldn’t anyone want to run away. He has no right to tell me anything about check-ins and running away! No right!” He yelled.

Jason was still angry. His heart ached. He would never be able to understand how Nico felt. He could never relate to something like that. But he wanted him to know that he’s there. He turned to face him and opened his arms to pull him in an embrace. Nico fought against him for a little, then left a weird sound and gave up. Jason hugged him tighter. He didn’t know if this was enough to let him know that it was okay. Nico sniffed several times resting his head on Jason’s shoulder.

“Sorry.” He mumbled after calming down.

“You don’t need to apologize. You’ve been through a lot. I’m afraid I can only listen…” Jason said. “But Chiron outside just wants you to tell him that you’re okay.” Nico sniffed again and pulled back. He wiped his face with his sleeve again.

“I don’t want to talk to him.” Nico whined. For a brief moment Jason thought this was the first time he heard Nico say something so pleadingly. “He left me in peace the last time. Why can’t he do it now, too?”

“Is that when you stopped going to school, too?” Jason asked. Nico nodded a little.

“I wouldn’t have to live there, or with any family as long as I could provide for myself. That’s what we agreed on.” Nico explained. It sounded like Chiron took a big leap of faith. Not many would trust a teenager to be okay on their own. Maybe Chiron knew that Nico would be alright.

“And you’ve done great!” Jason exclaimed. He believed Nico to be amazing to accomplish something like that. “If you want I’ll be there until you tell him that you’re okay and whatever you need to say. I’m sure it won’t take more than 5 minutes.” Jason confirmed.

Nico took a deep breath. “Okay.”

It took another ten minutes to get Nico out of the room. Chiron stood up and looked at both. Jason smiled at him a little and stepped aside. Nico’s eyes were still dark. He looked like he really didn’t want to do this.

“You don’t need to worry about me. I’m fine.” Nico blurted out. Then looked at Jason. “Isn’t this what you needed to know?”

Chiron smiled softly “Yes. I wished we could talk…”

“I don’t want to talk. I have somewhere to stay and a job and I’m sure you already asked Percy Jackson if I’m paying for everything, so that should be enough.” Nico interrupted. Jason wished Nico would sound less hostile, but the boy didn’t want to talk so much that he was quietly yelling in a way.

When Nico mentioned Percy, he was surprised. Did Percy know all this? He probably did know, at least, that Nico was in foster care. Somehow fewer things made sense now. Why wouldn’t Percy tell him when he asked about Nico so many times? Jason decided to think of the situation at hand instead. He could and would talk with Percy some other time.

“Yes, I’m aware.” Chiron said. “You really don’t want—“

“I don’t want anything. I’m fine like this.” He spoke between his teeth, his voice rising menacingly.

Chiron looked from Nico to Jason. The latter wanted to tell him that Nico was right. That he should go now that he had his answer. Even if Nico wasn’t very cooperative. He was sure that this man was trying too and he did care about him. Nico asked him to leave again and returned to his room. Chiron admitted defeat and picked up his briefcase. He told Nico through the door that he can always call him if anything happens and gave his card to Jason before leaving.

 

Jason returned to Nico’s room. The boy was sitting on his bed, legs folded, and looking up at him. Jason sat on the mattress across Nico, but didn’t say anything. He wasn’t sure how to start. There were many things he wanted to talk about, but for now there was only silence. In the end, Nico was the first to break it.

“I didn’t think that he would come all the way here.” Nico said quietly. “He’s stupid. He should just have left me alone.”

Jason thought for a moment. Could Nico actually appreciate it that Chiron came to check on him? It was possible. Thalia always said she’s alright and fine, but somehow that always meant that she wanted company. Attention. “He cares about you. Maybe he doesn’t have to, but it was his choice to come and see you. Isn’t that a good thing?” Jason said.

Nico made a weird sound between a snort and a sigh. He coughed. “Whatever.” He whispered under his breath.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Jason asked unsure. It could be the wrong decision, since it was clearly a difficult subject for Nico. But the boy did open up and told him about this family. He felt angry thinking about his father rejecting him, not taking care of him when he needed it the most. Jason’s father would never win the Father of the Year award either, but Nico’s seemed to be exceptionally terrible at parenting. He didn’t even want the responsibility, let alone try and fail. _What kind of parent would say things like that?_

“It’s a long story…” Nico said after a long time. “It’s not very pleasant.” He made an expression as though he was momentarily in a lot of pain. Jason shrugged.

“I have time.” He lied. He still had to meet his classmates for that movie, but he reckoned that Piper would understand. After attempting to kill him for not showing up. He closed his eyes and sighed before taking out his phone and sending a quick text to Piper.

“You have plans. It’s ok.” Jason shook his head.

“I don’t have plans. I’m all yours.” He confirmed.

“But you did, didn’t you? It’s Saturday… everyone had plans.” Nico complained.

Jason smiled. “They can hate me for a day. I’d rather stay here.”

Nico pouted and looked away. Jason remembered himself doing the same when he was a kid and he couldn’t get his favorite toy or candy. Jason sat next to Nico thinking about what he said earlier. His mother passed away and his sister passed away and he was alone. He guessed that his parents were, at least, separated. He tried to think of a reason any parent would refuse to take care of their child. Perhaps, Nico’s father was a bad person and Nico was better off without him anyway, but he couldn’t know that. He felt angry. He wanted to say something!

“When I was 12…” Nico said really quietly. Jason looked at him. The boy still stared at the floor. “I was in a car accident with my mother and older sister.” He paused for a few seconds between his words, like they were hard to get out. Difficult to utter. Even his accent seemed different. “They told me that both of them died on the spot. I couldn’t understand it then. It was always just the three of us.” Nico rubbed his eyes. “My father left when I was too young to really remember him. He didn’t want to be burdened by my presence.” He sniffed. Jason stayed quiet in case Nico hadn’t finished. “There was nothing else to be done about it. Besides foster care…” He rubbed his eyes again, wiping any tears that might have formed. Jason couldn’t see.

“Your father doesn’t sound like a very good person.” Jason noted. “I suppose he wasn’t much of a parent.”

“He had his own life. I don’t blame him.” Nico said, his voice full of resentment. He had every right to blame his father, Jason thought. “Chiron… I suppose he tried to help by putting me with families all the time.”

“But you didn’t like that…”

“I just wanted to be alone. And far away.” He shrugged. “I was just a burden to him, too.”

“I don’t think that’s how he sees it.” Jason said. “Instead, I would say he’s proud of you that you can live on your own and have a job. I know I would be.” He reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. Nico flinched a little before relaxing, but didn’t pull away.

“I thought I could talk with them. I thought… in Wicca there is no Hell, so they would be happier.” Nico continued talking. “Then I got a ouija board, but it didn’t work.”

Jason stared. After two dozen movies on witches and magic he knew what a ouija board was and how it was used. It was always said that it’s a taboo to use it. To try and contact spirits, if such a thing was possible. He wondered if it helped Nico move on.

“You know, perhaps they moved on. Your family must have good lives now.” Jason said. He didn’t know them, but it was impossible to think of them as anything but good people.

“Probably.” Nico mumbled.

They sat on the mattress for several minutes. Time passed quietly until the room started growing darker. It was still March and fairly cold. Jason pushed himself up. He didn’t want to be angry at someone he didn’t know and he didn’t want to keep seeing Nico sad. He had done so well on his own. That should be a good thing any day of the year, he thought.

“Come on, get up.” He said.

Nico looked at him surprised and confused.

“Come on!” Jason insisted and offered a hand to pull him up. Nico slowly took it and Jason pulled him up. “We should do something fun. There’s no point moping about a guy who probably didn’t deserve a good son like you. Let’s get your favorite!” Jason smiled at him.

“My favorite…” Nico stared confused.

“Cheeseburger, fries, tons of ice cream?” Jason suggested.

Nico smiled a little, his features relaxing. Jason hoped it would be the right choice and Nico wouldn’t get the wrong idea. Treating him to his favorite food was the least Jason could do.


	6. Finals

The rest of March passed quickly and with a lot of rain. Jason wasn’t used to carrying an umbrella with him all the time, but after getting caught in the rain three times he decided to put an end to it. Nico had laughed when he heard him sniffle and blow his nose every five minutes because of the cold he caught. He even got him a multi-pack of tissues as a present. After Chiron came to check up on him they didn’t hear from him again. Jason had stuffed his card on his top desk drawer with the old notes he exchanged with Nico. The only reason he kept the social worker’s business card was in case Nico wanted to talk to him in the future. As much as Nico was an adult, in many ways, he remained a child. A teenager. Sometime in the future, maybe he would like to contact him. They also had not spoken much about Nico’s past. When Jason visited the occult shop in late March he sat next to Nico for hours until his shift was over and the younger told him small stories he recalled about Bianca. But as more time passed, Nico stopped mentioning her or their mother. Jason didn’t want to ask. Instead he tried to give Nico the opportunity to think about the future.

 

_“What do you mean ‘what do I want to do in the future‘?’” Nico asked._

_“I mean… do you just want to work in this shop?” Jason tried._

_“It’s a nice place.” The boy argued._

_“There’s many things you can do, Nico, while still working at this shop. You just need to keep an eye out for opportunities.” The truth was that Jason hoped that Nico might try to go back to school. It would be great to see him graduate, he thought._

_Nico eyed him suspiciously. “What is this about, Grace. You just want to say something, don’t you?” He asked._

_“I just… I pictured you… don’t be mad!” He warned. “I pictured you graduating.” He smiled._

_Nico shook his head and sighed. “Graduating high school? That ship has sailed.”_

_“What do you mean? It’s never late, you know!” Jason protested. Nico had options. He was only 18 years old and he couldn’t let him give up like that._

_“Of course it is. It’s been years since I went to school. I can’t just go back!” Nico said._

_“You can study at home in your free time, though. You could still get the GED!” He said excited. “Even go to college afterwards.”_

_Nico stared at him for a long moment as if he couldn’t believe what Jason just said._

_“You want me to sit a GED test, pass it and go to college! That is the most ridiculous idea you’ve ever had.” Nico laughed._

_“It… isn’t ridiculous!” He needed to show him that it was a pretty good idea. A good option. “Okay, fine. You can think that it’s ridiculous, but! But it’s not impossible and you know that!” Jason wanted to shout ‘HA!’ in accomplishment. It wasn’t impossible for Nico. He was sure._

_“You are crazy.”_

_“And you can do it.”_

_“I can’t afford it.” Nico continued._

_“But you can get financial aid and scholarships to help you go to college if you want. You just need to research it.” Jason said. He never needed to search for scholarships or worry about rent or bills. His family always took care of everything before he even needed to worry. He was a bad example for such a case. Then he remembered._

_“Annabeth!”_

_“What?” Nico asked confused._

_“She has a full scholarship. True, she is really smart, but she could look into it. Why not ask her?” Jason said. Nico’s expression turned dark and grim. “Or… not.”_

_“Jason… just let it go. I’m not going to college! And that’s okay.” He said and returned to his book. Jason frowned. Perhaps he could gather some information and then show him._

 

 

In the end, April came with sunshine and the best spring ‘heat wave’ Jason could ask for. He put off doing that scholarship research for Nico until his exam schedule appeared on his student account page. He felt like crying when he saw two of the most difficult lessons on consecutive days. When he texted Piper, she only laughed and told him that’s because it was his crazy idea to pick that lesson anyway. He was glad he had some time to study before anyway, even though he dreaded the all-nighters before an exam.

He picked up an A4 folder, thick with papers and headed to Nico’s room.

 

“Hi, are you busy?” He asked when he opened the door and poked his head in.

Nico shook his head. “Not really.” He put the book he was reading on the side. Jason smiled and sat on his usual spot on the mattress.

“I have this for you.” He said and handed him the folder. Nico took it and looked at him suspiciously.

“And this is….”

“Research! Well, not all of the research, but… it’s research and things you should know and study if you take the GED test.” Jason said. He spend days looking into the test and what Nico should study if he wanted. Nico raised an eyebrow.

“Jason, I told you that… it’s not going to happen.” He said.

“You don’t know that. Please, just give it a try.” He paused. “I mean, just look at the material. I can help you study for it. Something tells me you were always a good student.” He added. Nico chuckled.

“What makes you think I was a good student? Maybe I was a terrible one.”

“Ha! But you weren’t. Otherwise you would just say it.” Jason exclaimed happy with his guess.

“Even if I look at all this, it doesn’t mean that I will do it.” Nico looked at the folder again. It was heavy and stuffed with more pages than it could fit.

“That’s up to you.” Jason said and hoped that the documents he printed out would change his mind. “Let me know if you change your mind though.”

Nico nodded. “Yeah, yeah, I know. You’ll just rush right here a moment after with all the books ready and show me how to solve math problems.” He joked. Jason laughed.

“Don’t make fun of me, di Angelo. I could be a good tutor.” He said. He wasn’t sure, but if Nico wanted to try and study again he would try to help him out as much as possible. Perhaps ask the others about advice. Jason was sure that Annabeth wouldn’t mind tutoring him on a subject or two. “Anyway, I’ll leave you to it, then.” Jason got to his feet with a groan.

“That was all?” Nico asked. He sounded disappointed. “You usually come and drag me out of here.” He smirked.

“Well… I guess I do.” Jason said after thinking for a moment. “Want to watch a movie or something?”

Nico smiled and bounced to his feet in a moment. “How about dinner instead?” He said with glee. Jason nodded surprised.

It was one of those rare times when Nico was like a kid again and, in his own way, begged for attention. They went out for dinner and dessert and returned home late, but only after a stop at the local DVD rental shop. Jason wasn’t surprised when Nico pop-ed up behind an aisle with a DVD in hand that looked like a horror movie you do not want to watch. He winced when Nico asked to watch it. Nico accused him of not liking thrillers, which wasn’t necessarily true. In the end, he let Nico pick the movie anyway, but his price was that they would watch one of Jason’s favorites as well.

 

 

 

A week later, Jason sat on the couch head bent over a large book on Introduction to Psychology. Today, they were all studying together at their flat. In preparation for the finals, Percy, Annabeth and Leo agreed to have a study group despite their different majors. Jason joined them often when they stayed at home, as did Frank and Hazel. On some days, Jason asked Piper to join them. It was good to have her around and have the occasional laugh about a lecturer. Piper was the sort of person that could easily get along with everyone. She even joked with Leo and chatted with Hazel and Annabeth as if they were old friends.

Jason stretched in his seat and looked around, his neck cracking from stiffness. His eyes fell to Nico’s bedroom door. He smiled unconsciously. Nico would still be at work, he thought.

“Someone’s not here.” Piper chanted from her position on the floor. She was using the coffee table to rest her books.

“I’m here. I just needed to stretch.” Jason claimed.

“Hoooo, who are you thinking about Jason? Spacing out before finals…” Leo teased, even though he wasn’t much better at concentrating than Jason.

“Shouldn’t that go for you too?” Jason replied. Percy and Frank giggled until Annabeth kicked her boyfriend under the table. Leo grimaced at Jason and turned back to his book while muttering that Jason ‘doesn’t understand’.

Jason returned to his own book and flipped the page. A new chapter. He sighed. He hoped that he wouldn’t have to read the same page a hundred times over this time.

_Beep._

He pulled out his phone surprised to see a text. Most people that contacted him, besides a family member were already in the room. But it was Nico.

Nico: I heard Percy in the morning saying something about group studying today. Are you camping out there to study?

It was his turn to grimace. Of course it would be weird for Nico to return home and find his flat mates had taken over the living room for studying.

Jason: Yes, everyone is here. I’m sorry. I didn’t think about the time. Did you just finish work?

Nico: Just a moment ago. I wanted to check. You better concentrate, Jason Grace!

Jason: I can’t even use that very helpful candle. What am I going to do?

Jason smiled to himself as he sent the text.

“It must be a girl.” Leo whispered to Percy. “Look at his face.”

“Shut up! It’s not!” Jason protested, but they only laughed.

Nico: You can always light it and meditate in the morning before studying.

Jason: Really? You have to show me.

Nico: Deal. Let me know when things calm down. I don’t want to interrupt.

Jason: Chances are that we would be interrupting and annoying you. I will let you know when the coast is clear.

 

He sent the last text and looked up.

“Why is everyone staring at me!?” This was ridiculous.

“Your face was priceless!’ Piper explained, amused as well.

“What? My face is normal. I don’t know what—“

“Jason,” Hazel cut him off. He turned to her surprised. She never did that. “Don’t. No one will be convinced.”

He groaned and fell back on the couch. At least Hazel was honest. Even if everyone had the wrong idea now.

 

 

It was evening when Hazel and Frank left the flat. Jason still found it impossible to concentrate and Piper was bugging him about the stupid questions professors will put on the exam just to make their lives difficult. He didn’t need to hear any of that. If he passed the lessons like during midterms he would be a happy man.

When Percy and Annabeth excused themselves to Percy’s room, Jason took his phone to text Nico. He wondered what he was doing all this while and hoped he wasn’t sitting all bored at some coffee shop.

Jason: Frank/Hazel left and Percy and Annabeth retreated to their unofficial bedroom #1. It’s just me and Piper. Also, Leo’s drooling on some textbook.

The reply came a minute later.

Nico: You should wake him up. His drool is like acid, he’ll destroy the book and then cry about it for days.

Jason stared at Nico’s text for a couple of seconds before bursting out in laughter. He could definitely imagine Leo cursing and yelling at how he destroyed a book, but to say that his drool was acid was too amusing. Piper jumped in the armchair, surprised.

Nico: I’ll be there in 15 mins.

Jason: We’ll be here. I’m gonna go wake up Mr. Acid Drool.

 

“What is up with you today?” Piper asked and closed the book on her lap.

“Nothing. It’s just Nico. He keeps saying ridiculous things.” Jason said and got up. He walked to Leo who was sitting on the kitchen counter, face flat on a massive book.

He shook his shoulder a few times.

“Hey, Leo… Leo… wake up! Come on, man. You’re drooling all over your books again!” Jason said louder. Leo didn’t budge at all. Jason leaned in close to his slightly pointy ear and in the creepiest tone he could manage whispered his name.

“Leeeeeeeeoooooooooooooo Vaaaalllddeeeeeeeezzzzzzz…”

In an instant Leo’s eyes flew open so fast and wide that you’d think he was faking his sleep. He sprang up in a sitting position and looked at Jason horrified. Jason was busy laughing his head off.

“If you ever do that again, I will cut you!” Leo said shivering at the end. “Ugh, so creepy! Who knew?!” He rubbed his arms a couple of times.

“You drooled over all your book again.” Jason tried to say without laughing.

Leo half cried when he looked at it and grabbed a paper towel. “Dammit, I always drool when I am too tired or stressed.”

“Or sleeping…” Jason added quietly, earning him a death glare. Leo gathered his books and got up.

“I’m gonna go crash inside. You two, behave.” He said as he disappeared down the hallway.

Piper raised an eyebrow.

“Does he think we’re dating?” She asked, eyebrows raised so high, they hid behind her new bangs.

“Probably…” It was another ridiculous thought.

“Well, that’s awkward.” Piper said. “Not that you’re not a nice guy or anything.”

“Gee, thanks Piper.” Jason said surprised. A few of their classmates had misunderstood occasionally their friendship as something more, but it was starting to happen more often.

“I already have someone I like, I mean. Besides, we’re friends, right?” Piper confessed. They rarely talked about significant others. Jason was almost sure that Piper already had a boyfriend, too. Now, he wasn’t so sure.

“Are you going to tell me who you like, or are you just confirming that I see you as a friend and nothing more?” Jason was confused.

“Do you want to know?”

“Just tell me already!” Jason sat down on the couch, across from her.

“It’s probably not what you think.” She warned. Jason waited as Piper closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I like Reyna.” The pause in which Piper looked straight at Jason and Jason was staring blankly back at her seemed to last hours. This was definitely something he didn’t expect. He had no idea what to say. Reyna was one of their classmates in practically every class they had in common. She always seemed stern and formidable.

“Sorry to interrupt.”

Jason turned to the sound of the voice. Nico had returned and was closing the front door behind him. He quickly walked to his room, disappearing inside in seconds. He didn’t even have a chance to say ‘welcome back’. He turned back to Piper.

“So you like a girl.” He confirmed. Piper nodded. “You like Reyna.” Jason stated quietly.

She nodded again. More firmly this time.

“Why… Reyna?” Jason asked before he could stop himself.

“What do you mean why Reyna? She’s gorgeous!” Piper looked bewildered.

“Sorry, sorry. Of course, I just didn’t know what to say.” Jason kept talking in a smaller voice. “She always seems hard to approach.”

“Come on, Jason. I thought you waited before judging someone by what they look like or what others told you about them.” It was true. He hated doing that and Piper knew that. He figured that Piper had interacted with Reyna many more times than he had anyway. He could definitely trust her judgment.

“How is it hanging out with her?”

Piper’s smile spread across her face. She started telling him about a couple of other lectures they took together and Reyna sat next to her. Or another time when Piper borrowed a pen despite having one that worked perfectly fine. Another time, they got coffee together. Jason listened as his image of the other girl fell apart slowly. She was really different once you got to know her, apparently. In the end, Jason told Piper to just ask her out already. There was less than a month left and she could miss her chance. Piper punched him playfully on the shoulder, blushed a deep read and told him that she would.

 

 

Jason knocked on the storage room door soon after Piper left. She claimed she was going to go and tell Reyna she liked her right away. He gave her an encouraging hug and pushed her out the door. He heard Nico reply inside and opened the door. It was dark, but for two candles. Jason noted that Nico was in this kind of mood that required candles and quietness and sat next to him.

“Hey, were you sleeping?” He asked. Nico flipped on his back.

“Not really.” He replied. “Just thinking.”

Jason nodded in acknowledgment, but Nico might not have noticed.

“Are you okay?” Nico asked. Jason turned to him.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“It just seemed like I interrupted something important back there.” Nico said and sat up on his mattress.

Jason was confused. “When you came back?” He asked. “No, Piper was telling me about her crush and it was… unexpected.” If they got together after tonight, Jason thought, he would need some time to get used to it.

“I actually heard that part.” Nico muttered. “I thought of asking in case you liked Piper and you were… I don’t know… rejected in a way.” He said.

“What?” Nico had misunderstood the whole thing. Jason laughed. Even Nico could misunderstand their relationship. It was amusing how they confused everyone. “It’s not like that. Why does everyone think that?” He wondered out loud. “Piper is my friend and I’m surprised, but happy she has someone she likes. That’s all.”

“You’re sure.” Nico only half asked.

“I’m sure.” Jason confirmed. He couldn’t be sure, but Nico’s expression changed in the slightest when he replied.

“Maybe people misunderstand because you look good next to each other.” Nico said dismissively. Jason never thought about that. He was a tall, really blond guy and Piper was an unconventional beauty. “Of course, Percy and Annabeth beat you.” Nico smirked. In the shadows, he really looked like a witch.

Jason laughed. “Can anyone ever beat a good match like Percy and Annabeth?” He asked. Both of them replied ‘no way’ right after.

“So, candle mood today?” He asked Nico after a small silence.

“Sometimes the light is too bright.” Nico replied. “So I just use the candles instead. They smell nice too.”

“I’m used to your room smelling like vanilla now. You better not go and change that scent.” Jason joked.

“It’s not going to happen. I told you, it’s my favorite.” He picked a candle that wasn’t lit and smelled it loudly as if it was a drug.

“I still have the notes. Of course I remember!” Jason said.

“Don’t think you know all my secrets because of those notes, Grace.” He said. Jason raised his hands.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He replied.

They spent the evening talking. Jason told him how the studying went and Nico showed him how to meditate. Nico even lit an incense stick to help. Jason wasn’t sure if it made any difference at all, but it smelled good and blended nice with the vanilla scent filling the room. It was the first time he tried to concentrate in this way, but after he opened his eyes to the candle light again, he felt much calmer and much better than before. Nico passed him a couple more small candles and said that no one will even notice it if it’s in the same room. He really thought of everything. Jason thanked him several times before going to his room.

 

 

 

Jason spent the entirety of his finals either cursing in his head about the lessons, the actual exam or trying to study. Nico had knocked on his door a couple of the nights when he would study yet again. Both times he brought some unhealthy snacks and energy drinks from the fridge. Jason told him that those were Percy’s but the younger claimed that Percy wouldn’t even notice. And he didn’t.

His family called him before his last exam was over. He regretted answering that phone call before checking first. His mother kept repeating how proud she was and wished him good luck more times than needed, but that wasn’t the reason he regretted picking up the phone. He didn’t expect it and definitely didn’t see it coming when his father claimed that he would need to choose his major and it couldn’t be anything other than what he would say. Annoyed, Jason told him that there was no way he would pick what someone else wanted because he had no intention of following that path. He heard his mother cry quietly on the speakerphone. His father accused him of causing distress to her. Jason blamed him for causing distress on the entire family. And then he threatened him just like he threatened Thalia all those years ago. He called him useless and claimed he’ll disown him even if he was his only son. Jason was so angry and stressed that he asked if he considered him his only child too. His mother wept further in the background and pleaded for both of them to stop. Jason refused and yelled that it was his father that was wrong, he had nothing to apologize for. And then he hung up.

He spent the next hour leaning over his book. He didn’t know what he wanted to do, but that was okay. No one could make him choose or pressure him. He decided not to let his father make all the decisions in his life. Perhaps, they would blame it on Thalia, that she was a bad influence, but he didn’t care. This wasn’t about her.

Frustrated he got up and went for a walk. May was much warmer and he could go out in a t-shirt at last. An hour and a subway ride later, Jason found himself outside the occult shop. He spotted Nico through the glass at the counter with a costumer. He didn’t think much about it before he walked in. The bell above the door rang and Nico looked passed the costumer.

“Thank you for your purchase.” Jason heard him say to the middle-aged lady.

“Hey.” Jason walked to the counter. Nico looked at him suspiciously.

“I thought you have an exam tomorrow. Shouldn’t you be home?” He asked. Somehow, Nico had memorized his schedule better than he had.

Jason groaned loudly. “Sorry. My parents called and totally messed it all up.”

“What did they mess up?” Nico asked.

“Studying, I guess. I just…” He sighed. “Everything was fine until the moment my dad decided to pick my course of studies for me.” He explained. “He wanted to do that with Thalia too, but she said no and moved here.”

“What did you say?”

“That I wouldn’t listen to him. So he said he’ll disown me.” Jason shook his head. He had enough and just thinking about it didn’t make things any easier.

“He sounds…”

“He sounds like a jerk. And he is. The only time he isn’t is when you listen to his every word. He’s a…” He tried to think of the right word. “A dictator.”

Nico laughed but stopped immediately. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh.”

“Go ahead. It doesn’t matter.”

Nico remained silent. Jason moved to the incense section and started looking and smelling at the different kinds. He heard Nico groan frustrated behind him.

“I wasn’t going to tell you until after your finals, but I suppose it will be good news for you.” Nico said. He walked around the counter and joined Jason.

“Tell me what?” He raised an eyebrow. There was still good news today. This was great, he thought.

“I decided to do it!” Nico said. “I’ll take the G.E.D test, alright?” He continued when Jason’s expression remained confused. “I thought about it and I read the research you gave me… I guess it wouldn’t be bad.”

Jason smiled and grabbed him by the shoulders. Nico flinched at the sudden movement and blinked fast.

“That’s awesome news!” Jason almost yelled. “That’s the best!” He grabbed and hugged him tight. From feeling angry and sad, now he felt proud and happy. He was proud that Nico took the decision. He was glad that he was able to help someone who needed it.

“You’re a good friend, Jason. The best I ever had.” Nico’s voice came a little muffled from against his chest where his head was buried. “You’ve been there for me and you were right. I should think about the future.” Jason nodded, still holding Nico tight. He had forgotten all about the conversation with his father even if it was temporary. He felt his eyes burn and water slowly. “Thank you.”

“Damn, I’m so proud of you!” Jason said, his voice sounding strange and strained.

Nico pushed himself away a little. Jason let go.

“Why do you have to start crying? You’re such a parent…” Nico chuckled.

Jason wiped his eyes with his palms. He never thought of that. He really did behave like a mom or a dad towards Nico from the very start. Approaching him with caution, taking care of him when he was ill and slowly getting close to him even when the boy refused. He even told him not to give up on his future and now he took such a decision because of him. Yes, he wanted to cry because the mysterious kid in his flat from 9 months ago turned out to be a dear friend now and that’s all that mattered.

“Big baby.” Nico scoffed and passed him a tissue. “I only said that I would take the test.”

“That’s enough.” Jason replied. It was more than enough.

It took him a few minutes to calm down and put his thoughts back in order. Then Nico turned to him again.

“Thanks for everything.” He repeated. Jason smiled.


	7. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only titled 'epilogue' for the lack of a better title. Sorry about that.

Today was a year since Jason met Nico. His mind flashed back to the memory of waking up that cold night wanting to go to the bathroom and meeting Nico along the way. He was only a boy then. Pale and rather ill. Now, Jason laughed at how he panicked when he found him passed out in his room with a high fever. It was one of his fondest memories of his first year at college, even though it had nothing to do with his studies. He closed his eyes and thought about all the memories he shared with the boy. A minute later, he re-opened them.

Now Nico was sitting across from him, sharing the desk in his room. He had a large book in front of him on calculus and his eyebrows creased so much that Jason thought he was going to get early wrinkles. Nico kept frowning over the book, pencil in hand and chewing at the end nervously.

“How are you doing?” Jason asked. Calc was not his subject, but he was always trying to help Nico study for the GED as much as he could.

Nico looked up finally letting the pencil go.

“I’m not sure I understand any of this.” He sighed. “Why does it have to be so complicated? I never had trouble with numbers before.”

“I wish I knew.” He paused. “Are you sure you don’t want me to ask Annabeth or Leo for some help?” All the previous times he suggested it, Nico refused, but Jason knew that he was trying his best. Since, he came back from holidays, if they were watching a movie in the living room and someone joined, Nico didn’t run off. A few times, Piper and Reyna joined them and Buford had taken a liking to sleeping on Nico’s lap.

“If you promise they won’t laugh.” Nico said with a sour expression. He didn’t trust them. Jason understood that.

“I think they will fully support you.” Jason confirmed. He was sure that everyone would help Nico if he only asked, but he had too much pride. “I will make sure to ask next time. It will help.”

Nico nodded in agreement, but he looked worried. He picked up his pencil again and started reading, mouthing the words as he went along.

Jason returned to his book as well. After a summer fighting with his father about the direction of his studies he only came to the conclusion that he shouldn’t listen to him at all. Unlike his sister, however, he wasn’t planning on rebelling against his own parents and on purpose doing the exact opposite of what they say. He surprised himself when he picked more classes around psychology. It wasn’t easy and he didn’t ace his final, but he found that it was a lot more interesting. Piper had called him a masochist, so he made it his goal to not complain about the lessons at all. It turned out to be harder than he planned.

 

 

 

By the end of the fall semester, Jason relaxed. The question that had been driving him insane since he graduated from high school was answered. He knew exactly what he wanted to do. He asked a few professors about it, and consulted with Thalia before making his final decision. He had been waiting to tell Nico too for a couple of weeks, but didn’t want to interrupt his studying. For the past two months, Annabeth was tutoring him on a few subjects. Nico had burst in his room in triumph in the evening, an A4 paper in hand.

“Jason, look!” He exclaimed with a big smile. He put the paper in front of him, covering his book. It was a test paper that Annabeth created to prepare him for the actual exam. The score, in red pen, marked 92/100. He looked up at Nico, who had jumped on the bed and waited patiently.

“Wow. Nico, congratulations!” He said and reached out, put his hand on the boy’s head and ruffled his hair. Nico pulled away with an annoyed expression and run a hand through his hair. He scoffed, but he knew that Nico wasn’t really annoyed. “That’s a really great score!”

Nico nodded once. “Maybe I’m a genius!” He said in a mocking voice. “Or, you know, just lucky.”

“You studied hard and I’m sure that Annabeth’s test papers are not very…” He examined the paper again, a little more carefully. “Yeah, it’s not really the easiest thing. She’s making this harder, isn’t she?” He wasn’t sure if it was the best way to encourage Nico.

“Isn’t it better? Then the test will be even easier!” Nico said.

“Well, you know… maybe. But you should study for the rest of it as well.” Jason added. Nico had gotten the hang of sciences, but still lacked on other subjects. The boy frowned.

“Yeah, I know. I won’t fail English, don’t worry.” He said. “Besides, I thought you were going to help me out. Didn’t you promise?”

“I did and I will.” Jason confirmed. Nico’s exam was in May. It gave him plenty of time to study all the subjects. Jason knew that the boy wouldn’t need much of his help. He picked up on things quickly and didn’t forget easily.

Jason didn’t realize that he fell quiet for a while. Nico poked his stretched leg.

“What’s up with you?” He asked. “You just drifted off somewhere, didn’t you?”

Jason blinked. “I did. I should stop doing that…” He mumbled. Nico nodded. “I was just thinking how I wanted to tell you my decision too.”

Nico stared at him. “What decision?” He asked. “Is this about the next movie?”

Jason laughed. “No, it’s not about the movie!” He said amused. “I decided what I want to do.” He paused. “I had no idea what that was, but I’ve been thinking about it for ages and it only started making sense over the summer, but I wasn’t sure. I tried some classes and Piper thinks I’m a masochist now, but I know what I want to do.” He rambled excited about his discovery and sat upright on the bed.

“That is great news! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Nico asked.

“I… needed to be sure. Cause you helped me with that and I wanted to tell you after I officially decided.” Jason said. Nico’s expression changed a little, but he didn’t say anything. “Over the summer, things were confusing and I ended up doing some volunteering work in order to get out of the house. And I realized that I really like doing things for others.”

“You’re saying sappy things, Jason Grace.” Nico noted and shifted in place.

“Sorry.” He apologized and hoped that Nico wouldn’t feel uncomfortable that he influenced his decision as much as he had. He wished he could go back in time and help him like Chiron had. He thought of all the kids out there who needed help and how many weren’t getting the protection they needed. He wanted to be someone who could help, no matter how little that was.

“What did you decide then?” Nico interrupted his thoughts again.

“Psychology. Social Work. That sort of thing.” Jason said quietly. Nico chuckled. When Jason looked up at him, he saw a smirk on Nico’s face.

“I knew you were going to say that.” He shook his head as if he didn’t approve. “You’re so obvious.”

Jason smiled. “You’re gonna have to get used to that.”

Nico chuckled again and sighed heavily as he climbed off the bed. He stood there for a moment looking at Jason and then extended his hand. When he took it, Nico pulled him to his feet.

“I think it’s time to celebrate.” Nico said. “You didn’t think you’ll get away with telling me such a thing and not spending this wonderful and cold February night eating ice cream, right?”

Jason shook his head. “It would be preposterous!” He threw his hands in the air and followed the younger outside.

He was happy. Jason was sure that, now, things would slowly fall into place. He moved across the country to feel like he belongs and he found it in this flat. He wanted to reach out to someone and be their friend and he found that in the little storage room. Now, he had a best friend he never expected to have and he had a goal. In many ways, he felt for the first time ever, complete.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness, it's the end. 
> 
> There's many things that happen in the future too. But I wanted a fic where they are friends and it's a steady build up to a Jasico friendship. Now, I'm not going to say what will happen in the future, but you can safely assume that these two stay friends forever. T^T
> 
> Thank you for reading and many many thanks to my beta, geographicghost and st00pz for her amazing art! <3


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